Nottingham Trent Tops Sustainability
Ranking of UK Universities and 1/4 of
Universities Divest from Fossil Fuels
Nottingham Trent University has topped
the sustainable university rankings with
University of Brighton and Manchester
Metropolitan University placed 2nd and 3rd
highest in the only university league table
that ranks public commitment and
performance toward environmental and
social justice

O

ver a quarter of all UK universities
have now committed to divest from
the fossil fuel industry.
•
Newcastle University 8th position –
highest ranked research intensive
university
•
Royal Agricultural University 16th
position – highest ranked small and
specialised university
•
Cardiff Metropolitan university –
top in Wales (4th in UK)
•
University of Worcester placed 5th
•
Edinburgh Napier University –
top in Scotland (22nd in UK)
•
City University London 7th position
– top of London league (followed by
the LSE)
However, the 2016 results show a 4-year
downward trend in carbon emission
reduction across the higher education
sector; with only 24% of universities still
looking likely to meet sector carbon
reduction targets of 43% by 2020.
People Planet blame the removal of
government and funding council incentive
or support for sustainable development in
the higher education sector since coalition
election in 2010.
Published by student campaign network
People & Planet , the 2016 People & Planet
University League audits and scores 150
publicly funded UK universities on their
policy and action for environmental and
social justice.
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) have
hit the No1 spot in this years table after
consistently being ranked in the top 10
universities by People & Planet over the
last 7 years.

First published in 2007, the league
celebrates the ambition and success of
universities that are taking a holistic and
practical approach to tackling climate
change and social inequality. The 2016
league results show that over 80% of
universities now have publicly available
policy on environmental issues and a
quarter of institutions back this up with
comprehensive targets to improve their
sustainability. This year the data showed
two record highs – 55% of UK universities
– opening their campus up to external
scrutiny of an external environmental
management system audit and half of all
universities have publicly available ethical
investment policy.
It was also announced that UK
universities are leading the way on fossil
fuel divestment globally. The University
League shows that 42 higher education
institutions have committed to exclude the
fossil fuel industry from around £10.7bn
of endowment wealth, overtaking other EU
countries, the US and Australia.
Amoge Ukaegbu, Campaigns and
Movement Building Co-ordinator, People
& Planet said: ‘UK universities have been
world leaders on cutting-edge research
into climate solutions. By severing their
ties with fossil fuel companies, universities
are standing in solidarity with the
communities across the world that are on
the frontline of fossil fuel extraction and
climate change. The Fossil Free movement
has grown exponentially with students
and universities at its core, pioneering a
new way for public institutions to be truly
independent of the fossil fuel economy and

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

in doing so, trailblazing a path for wider
society to follow.’
In what campaigners claim is ‘a
game-changing announcement’ it was
revealed today that 16 new UK universities
have committed to divest. These
institutions join twenty six other UK
universities that had already ruled out
investing in coal and tar-sands or all fossil
fuels. Combined this represents over a
quarter of UK universities and places UK
universities ahead of their global rivals.
The UK all most has almost as many
universities divested as the rest of the
globe put together, with a total of 51
educational institutions divesting globally
outside the UK – in the USA, Australia, New
Zealand, Sweden, Denmark, Canada and
Republic of the Marshall Islands. The USA is
closest to the UK with thirty five institutions
committing to divest, however this number
only makes up a fraction of their institutions
representing just over 1% of the US higher
education sector.
100 policies included a vision to offer
learning opportunities for sustainable
development across all areas of study, with
a third of universities starting the process
by supporting teaching academics to
explore areas of sustainability in the
curriculum. 20 universities had
implemented a framework to help them
ensure that every student explored
environmental and ethical challenges in
their courses.
NTU is integrating sustainability into
its teaching and learning through its
“Green Academy”.
“We made it a formal requirement six
months ago that all of our courses
incorporate at least one of the 17 UN
sustainable development goals,” says Grant
Anderson, NTU’s environmental manager.
“We think it will give our students an edge
in their careers to have considered some of
the environmental challenges they will face
in their lifetimes,” he says.
“So chemistry students are looking at the
role they can play in finding solutions to
feeding the world in a sustainable way and
primary education students learn practical
gardening skills that they will be able to
share with their pupils at the university’s
food share allotments”.
NTU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Edward

News
Peck, said: “Returning to the top of the
People and Planet University League
– alongside a plethora of other awards
– shows what can be achieved when
professional services colleagues,
academics, and students work together on
an issue in which they all believe. ”
Whilst this years People & Planet
University League acknowledges the
inspiring vision and practice of the top
30 universities, by awarding them a “First”
class degree, the overall picture looks less
encouraging when you take a step back. At
the national level, university commitment to
meeting the climate challenge is dwindling.
60 institutions lacked any evidence of a
senior role with responsibility for
sustainability issues, which may leave
middle management staff powerless to
make key decisions with regard to
sustainability. More worryingly, People &
Planet noted a decrease in university
environment staff as one third of
universities now appear to have no

dedicated environment team at all.
Since 2009, the number of drivers
encouraging sustainable development in
the Higher Education sector, have all but
disappeared. This is especially poignant in
England when you look at the change in
government priorities.
Before the coalition were elected in 2010
there was a flurry of carbon reduction and
sustainability initiatives in universities that
were encouraged by government policy and
linked to university funding.
Hannah Smith Co-director; Research and
Campaigns at people & planet said: This
was an exciting time – the future looked set
to harness the energy of 150 institutions of
research, creativity, innovation and
knowledge, not to mention the 5million
students per year. Right now the policy
landscape looks bereft of any support or
incentive, which we find extremely
concerning when you consider the
opportunity the UK has to meet carbon
reduction targets through the ambition of

world-class universities” .
Since 2005 the HE sector in England
has managed to achieve a 10% reduction
in carbon emissions. John Bailey, Head of
Sustainability at the University of London
has conducted his own research into the
plight of university carbon targets.
“If the future emission reductions follow
the same trajectory will achieve a 26%
saving by 2020, a big difference from the
43% target set by the sector” he said.
•
University of Warwick (34th) and
University of the West of England
(26th) named most improve
•
Half of UK universities now have
a publicly available ethical
investment policy
•
Increase in sustainability projects
in teaching and learning across
the sector
•
First class institutions include
University of Leeds, University of
Bristol, Swansea University, and
Glasgow Caledonian University.

Inspiring, informing and connecting
the entire built environment with
solutions to build better communities

E

cobuild is the UK’s largest and
number one event for specifiers
across the built environment. No
other UK event attracts 33,319 high calibre,
senior level decision makers and
influencers from architects and developers
to local government and major
infrastructure clients.
In 2017, the event will return on 07-09
March, with a renewed focus on enabling
sustainable construction for 2017 and
beyond. With Lead Partner the UK-GBC,
Ecobuild 2017 will explore sustainability as
a driver to innovation and growth, a catalyst
for regeneration and as a way for
organisations to do better business.
This year the event theme is
Regeneration. Ecobuild 2017 will be
regenerated into an immersive city complete with main street, distinct
destinations and special feature attractions.
Central to the experience will be
Regeneration Drive, a boulevard running
through the middle of Ecobuild, linking
different aspects of the exhibition and
enabling you to experience the very best
examples of innovation and creativity from
across the built environment.

In the lead up to the event, Ecobuild
will be driving industry-wide conversation
around the ongoing evolution of
sustainability. Industry professionals can
get involved in the conversation on social
media using #SustainabilityIs

Get involved...
If you’re interested in exhibiting alongside
the world leading brands in construction,
get in touch with a member of the team
today - www.ecobuild.co.uk/exhibit/
book-your-stand

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

News

Sustainable development of
communities’ standard published

B

SI, the business standards company,
has published ISO 37101:2016,
Sustainable development in
communities — Management system for
sustainable development — Requirements
with guidance for use.
In a fast-changing world, ensuring cities
and communities are fit for the future is a
key priority for many city leaders. Providing
sustainable energy supplies, coping with
environmental and climate changes,
building and maintaining durable
infrastructures and meeting the needs
and expectations of citizens are just some
of the considerations to be made. ISO
37101 has been developed to help city
leaders set their city’s sustainable
development agenda.
The UK has already developed similar
guidance in the shape of BS 8904:2011
Guidance for community sustainable
development which is suited to local grass
roots organizations, with this standard
contributing towards the development
of ISO 37101.
The international standard sets out
requirements and guidance to attain
sustainability with the support of methods

and tools including smartness and
resilience. It can help communities improve
in a number of areas such as:
•
Developing holistic and integrated
approaches instead of working in silos
(which can hinder sustainability)
•
Fostering social and environmental
changes through collaboration of all
stakeholders in a community
•
Improving health and wellbeing for
citizens encouraging responsible
resource use
•
Achieving better governance to
support cost effective investment
decision
David Fatscher, Head of Market
Development for Sustainability at BSI, said:
“As societies grow and populations within
a community increase in density, more
thought has to be put into the sustainable
development of those communities. This is
not just about population size but also the
economic, social and environmental issues
that a community faces. Whilst previous
guidance has enabled individuals to take
control of their communities locally, from
improving social and economic
opportunities to protecting the local

environment, this international standard
takes a broader view. City leaders can be at
the forefront of any decisions that impact
their communities and now have the
guidance they need to implement
changes to benefit their environment
in multiple ways.”
Some of the countries involved in the
development of ISO 37101 include: Austria,
Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany,
Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia,
Sweden, Sri Lanka and USA. Outreach and
liaison was also established with the Global
City Indicators Facility and the United
Nations Environment Programme. This
included harmonizing work being done
in ISO on city indicators and smart
infrastructure.
ISO 37101 will be able to help city CEOs,
sustainability officers, smart city managers
and compliance managers, policy advisors,
NGOs and consultants plan their city’s long
term sustainability agenda.
To learn more, please visit
www.bsigroup.com

Saville wins European award at NEC Display
Trends Forum

A

V integrator Saville Audio Visual
was the only UK partner to be
recognised by NEC Display
Solutions Europe at its 2016/17 Display
Trends Forum in Rome. The Partner Awards
ceremony honoured the achievements of
six outstanding NEC channel partners over
the past year.
Bringing together key customers,
industry influencers, business leaders and
the NEC top management team, the Forum
provides a platform to learn about new
and emerging technologies and shape the
future of visual experience and display
innovations.
More than 120 people from 23 countries
attended the event at the Boscolo Exedra
Roma hotel, to explore key industry trends
likely to gain prominence in 2017 and
beyond. Alongside awards for NEC channel
partners from Germany, Italy, Poland and
Norway, Saville was named as Most
Innovative Installation Partner.
The award highlighted the company’s
innovative design and installation work

in The Atrium at the University of West of
Scotland. This included a nine-screen NEC
reception videowall plus a unique, pivoting
videowall installation using 32 NEC screens,
driven from sixteen 4K UHD inputs.
NEC General Manager (UK and
Benelux), Neil Hartigan commented: “It is
only through the commitment and
dedication of our partners that NEC can
truly deliver an exceptional customer
experience, so we are delighted to use the
NEC Display Trends Forum to recognise the

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

outstanding contribution they make. This
year, Saville AV were thoroughly deserving
of their accolade and we were delighted to
see the UK partner network represented
amongst the European award winners.”
Accepting the award, Saville Sales and
Marketing Director, Andy Dyson said: “When
we arrived at the venue, we weren’t even
aware that there was to be an awards
ceremony! We were surprised and delighted
to receive this remarkable honour.”
www.saville-av.com

News

BSRIA
Launches
Floor Plenum
Airtightness
Guide

B

SRIA is delighted to announce the
release of its new Floor Plenum
Airtightness Guide which is available
to download from its website and as a
hard copy.
A floor plenum is a void between a
building’s floor structure and a raised
access floor, used for distributing
conditioned air to the spaces above. It is
important that conditioned air in a floor
plenum flows into the occupied zone and
does not leak into cavities, risers, stairwells,
heating trenches or other adjacent zones.
Air leakage from floor plenums can be
a serious energy efficiency issue and a
source of discomfort to users.
It is important that the air supplied to
the floor plenum discharges through the
floor-mounted diffusers or grilles rather
than through joints in the raised access
floor or between the raised access floor
and the walls. A properly sealed floor
plenum will allow the diffusers and grilles
to fulfil their primary role of delivering air
at the correct flow rate.
This BSRIA guide addresses these issues,
and recommends worst acceptable criteria
for air leakage from floor plenums.
Tom Jones, Technical Manager,
Compliance Department, BSRIA, said: “This
guide suggests worst acceptable criteria
for plenum leakage. More stringent air
leakage specifications may be required for
critical environments such as data centres
and designers should specify this at an
early stage.
Since the introduction of airtightness
testing as part of the Building Regulations,
the air leakage of buildings has steadily
reduced as construction teams have
become more familiar with the
requirements for buildings to be
more airtight.
It is hoped that by introducing lower
specifications for floor plenums, the
effect will be similar.”

Hampshire County
Council Property
Services celebrate
triple national
award win

H

ampshire County Council’s
campaign. Funded by Heritage Lottery
Property Services team are
Funding, The National Museum of the
celebrating after winning three
Royal Navy appointed the Property
national awards at the SPACES Civic
Services team to design new stairs, lift
Building of the Year Awards.
and walkways to the historic warship
The prestigious awards, which reward
including the experience of descending
design and construction excellence in the
six meters into the dock and a unique
public sector, were given to the County
view of M33’s distinctive flat bottom before
Council’s in-house team of designers for:
stepping aboard.
•
SPACES Civic Building of the Year
SCOLA buildings were introduced in
Joint Overall Winner - Westgate
the 1960s as an affordable and quick
School, Winchester
building method to meet the demand for
•
Heritage Building of the Year Winner
school buildings. Whilst structurally sound,
- HMS M33 Project, The National
SCOLA buildings are not energy efficient,
Museum of the Royal Navy
with poor insulation and over glazing. For
Portsmouth
the SCOLA Reclad Programme, Property
•
Highly Commended Innovation
Services trialled a new cladding system
Award (Engineering) – SCOLA Reclad
involving an energy efficient insulated
Programme for school buildings
render and brick slip. The cladding system
Councillor Mel Kendal, Executive
extends the life of the buildings, reduces
Member for Economic Development, said:
the carbon footprint and energy costs,
“Congratulations to the Property Services
resulting in modern ‘future-proofed’
team who are once again award winners.
buildings for the schools to be proud of.
These three awards shows the range of
So far, 110 Hampshire school buildings
their expertise - from designing modern
have had their SCOLA buildings reclad.
looking and energy efficient school
buildings, to helping the public access
More information about Hampshire County
an important part of our heritage.
Council Property Services, and these
They should be rightly proud of their
awards can be found at
achievements.”
www.hants.gov.uk/propertyservices/
Westgate School in Winchester was
ps-awards.htm
re-modelled by extending the former
on-site boarding house and nursery to
create a new 420-place primary school
Reclad SCOLA building at Mountbatten School, Romsey
– creating Hampshire’s first 4-16
‘all-through school’ campus. The new
primary school has double height and
open spaces to increase natural light and
ventilation, which also provides greater
flexibility for learning and social cohesion.
The brick and slate roof also complements
and closely matches the surrounding
campus. Car parking has been moved
from the centre of the site to create an
all-weather ‘school green’ for school
and community use, as well as new and
improved pedestrian and cycle routes and
school bus stop.
HMS M33 in Portsmouth Historic
Dockyard is one of the few remaining
British World War I warships, which saw
active service in the 1915 Gallipoli

www.bsria.co.uk

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

Opinion

Brexit: a death knell for
the circular economy?

W

hen it comes to the
environment, most
commentators agree that
EU legislation has had
a positive impact, e.g.
reducing air and water pollution, keeping
valuable materials out of landfill and
conserving natural habitats.
In consequence, the vast majority of
environmental professionals who were
polled voted to remain in the EU. Strong
expressions of dismay at the result of the
referendum have emanated from a variety
of public figures, such as former Secretary
of State for the Environment Lord
Deben, who described Brexit as the
“biggest example of self-harm done by a
nation for probably 200 years”.
One of the specific concerns relates to
the EU circular economy package: although
the details remain to be fleshed out, this
would raise the EU recycling target to at
least 65% by 2030, update the main waste
directives and provide support to various
circular initiatives. Environmental lawyer
Simon Colvin said “‘[The circular economy
package is] so all-encompassing in terms
of the products we use and the waste we
generate it was going to catalyze so many
things in so many areas. And that’s just
gone now really, in one fell swoop.”
But is such hand-wringing truly
justified? The freedom to legislate for
ourselves could be used to set even higher
environmental targets. Philip Simpson,
commercial director of ReFood, says: “Free
from the shackles of EU red tape, Defra has
a critical role to play in setting such targets
[to recycle food waste] and can help Britain
to implement waste management laws at
a far greater speed — tailored with the
country’s needs firmly in mind.”
Smaller businesses in the waste
industry look forward to a reduction in red
tape which could help them to compete
more effectively with the large corporations.
Paul Killoughery, managing director of
London-based food waste collection and
recycling company Bio Collectors, said that,
”On balance, I feel that all SMEs, like us,
would be better off if we left the EU… I don’t
think a Leave vote would adversely impact
our business or the waste management
industry in general.”

The two basic options
The Government is faced with the task
of building a new relationship with the

Caroline Hand, lead commentator for
Wolters Kluwer’s Croner-i Environment
and Sustainability looks at the options and
makes some tentative predictions as to
how the circular economy will fare
EU which will best meet the needs of a
post-Brexit UK. We must decide whether
to remain a member of the European
Economic Area (EEA), or trade with the EU
as an independent member of the World
Trade Organization (WTO).
If the UK remains within the EEA, most
of the EU’s environmental legislation will
still apply. This would include the Landfill
Directive, WEEE Directive, and any other
legislation relating to the single market.
The only environmental laws that would
no longer apply are the Birds Directive,
Habitats Directive and Bathing Water
Directive. Non-mandatory aspects of the
circular economy package would not apply,
but it would be in the interests of the UK to
keep its resources policies in line with those
of the rest of the EU, in anticipation of
future legislation. The UK would, however,
lose EU funding for initiatives that emanate
from the circular economy package, and
would not have a say in the development of
future EU waste legislation.
While this option would be the easiest
in terms of trading relationships, as things
stand, it is unlikely to be pursued as it
would require the UK to carry on allowing
the free movement of people.
The other basic option is to leave
the EEA and operate as an independent
member of the WTO. In this scenario, most
environmental legislation would no longer
apply but the UK would still have to meet
EU product standards when trading with
Member States. This would mean
continued compliance with aspects of the
WEEE Directive such as heavy metal
content and labelling. If the circular
economy package introduces standards
for recycled content of products, the UK
would also have to comply with those.

Benefits of the EU circular
economy package
The concept of the circular economy
did not emanate from the EU Commission.
Rather, the pioneering work has been done

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

by think-tanks such as the Ellen MacArthur
Foundation, radical innovators such as
Sophie Thomas at the RSA, and new
“disruptive” businesses which exploit the
potential of the internet and new
technology. Global corporations had
already initiated circular programmes
— in developing reusable and recyclable
products — and the waste industry had
rebranded itself as the “resources sector”,
before Brussels finally got on board. So
what unique contribution does the EU
package make?

Funding
First, and perhaps most importantly,
the EU provides funding for circular
economy initiatives. The UK has already
benefited from the LIFE scheme which
helped to finance the electronic duty of
care (EDOC) and a the European Pathway
to Zero Waste programme which, among
other things, set up a waste exchange in
southern England. Whereas big business
can afford to set up its own projects,
SMEs are more dependent on external
funding. As recently as September, it was
announced that EU funding will help SMEs
in Wales develop circular business models.
The Circular Economy for SMEs (CESME)
project, which was launched in Cardiff in
May, is supported by €1.73 million (£1.45
million) of Interreg Europe funding and
is being delivered by 10 partners from 6
European countries.

Research
While the circular economy package
contains quite a few general pledges to
investigate issues of concern, the
Commission has made a firm promise to
fund research into circular products and
business models. The Horizon 2020 work
programme 2016-2017 includes a major
initiative, Industry 2020 in the Circular
Economy, which will grant over €650
million for innovative demonstration

Opinion
projects that support the objectives of
the circular economy and industrial
competitiveness in the EU in a wide range
of industrial and service activities.

legislation, Defra has not felt the need to
draw up an English waste policy for the
years beyond 2020. Once out of the EU,
this will leave a policy void.

Trade and standards

Going it alone

Trade does not feature prominently
in the package, but the Commission does
promise to simplify the procedures for
trade in secondary materials, and take
further steps to police the trans-frontier
shipment of waste. And the EU has
significant competence in the related issue
of product standards: the circular economy
package contains pledges to develop new
standards for waste-based fertilizers to
encourage the circulation of organics.
The Commission will also propose
mandatory product design and marking
requirements to make it easier and safer to
dismantle, reuse and recycle flat computer
and TV screens.

Does Britain — or more specifically
England — really need the EU to kick start
the circular economy? There are strong
economic incentives to increase the
circulation of resources. According to a
recent report undertaken by Imperial
College London, a closed-loop society could
boost the UK’s economy by 1.8% and its
employment levels by 10% by 2025. This
would add £29 billion to national GDP and
create 175,000 new jobs. Another report
from the Green Alliance found that 200,000
jobs could be created by 2030 if the UK
continues on its current circular economy
development rate.
The devolved governments are already
committed to the circular economy.
Scotland published its strategy Making
Things Last in February, and Wales has
several initiatives underway, including a new
British Standard for the circular economy.
Their ambitious policies extend well beyond
2020 and are already producing results,
such as the diversion of food waste from
landfill in Scotland. There would be nothing
to stop England from following the lead of
Scotland and Wales, although it has to be
noted that the devolved administrations
have more government funding per capita
to spend on the environment.

Fears surrounding Brexit
A number of specific concerns have
been raised by the UK resources sector
regarding the possible negative
consequences of Brexit. One very practical
issue is the trade in refuse-derived fuel
(RDF) (produced through the treatment of
municipal waste). At present, the UK does
not have the infrastructure to burn all
this RDF so a large quantity is exported to
mainland Europe. Some fear that RDF could
end up in landfill if the UK leaves the EEA
— although of course this could encourage
the development of more home-grown
facilities.
The circular economy package would
introduce a new municipal waste recycling
target of 65% and a packaging recycling
target of 75% by 2030. Outside of the EU
and EEA we would be under no obligation
to strive for these and could linger on the
current plateau of around 44% (for
municipal waste). However, it is worth
noting that for the waste and resources
industry, the issue of greatest concern is
the market for secondary materials. Higher
targets for collection of recyclables from
the public will be to no avail if there is no
market for the reprocessed materials.

Bottom of the in-tray?
More generally, there are fears that the
UK Government could choose to ignore
waste and resources altogether. Jacob
Hayler of the Environmental Services
Association (ESA) commented that the
result of the referendum risked placing the
waste and recycling sector “at the bottom
of the government’s in-tray”. Thanks to the
highly prescriptive nature of EU waste

Choosing how to spend…
Once Britain is no longer paying
contributions to the EU, the Government
will be free to decide how to spend the
money they have saved. The withdrawal of
public funding from the successful National
Industrial Symbiosis Project, which
generated financial savings to business far
exceeding the Government’s investment,
shows that policymakers are not all
necessarily aware that a circular economy is
conducive to economic growth. Now is the
time for supporters of the circular economy
to make their case to ministers, and
demonstrate the substantial benefits
that arise from circulating our valuable
resources rather than consigning them to
oblivion in landfill.

…and how to regulate
Brexit will create the opportunity to
develop legislation and policy that is better
tailored to UK conditions. There have been
discussions within the EU about clamping
down on commingled recycling collections,
in a more rigid interpretation of the Waste

Framework Directive’s requirement for
segregated collection. Local authorities may
be relieved at the chance to keep
their “Technically, Environmentally and
Economically Practicable” commingled
systems. Food waste collection is another
area where Brexit could allow for the
introduction of higher standards —
perhaps even a ban on the landfilling of
food waste. This would give a boost to the
anaerobic digestion sector and would also
create consistency across England.
The return of the Dirty Man of Europe?
Some of the more doom-laden
prophecies predict a return to the bad old
days of the 1970s when the UK was “the
dirty man of Europe” (as a result of poor
bathing water quality). But in actual fact,
Britain has had a significant input into EU
environmental law through the involvement
of our scientists and regulators in the
development of innovative policies such as
Integrated Pollution Control. Is the
Government likely to abandon all the
environmental gains that have been made
during its decades of EU membership?
This is certainly not the case for climate
change policy, where the UK’s pioneering
Climate Change Act 2008 leads the way in
Europe. And when it comes to waste and
resources, the referendum result coincided
with the release of success stories which
show that, independently of any pressure
from the EU, the UK is making strides
towards a more circular economy.
Eurostat’s latest statistics reveal that
Britain and the Netherlands are the most
resource-efficient countries in Europe.
Furthermore, the Waste and Resources
Action Programme (WRAP) has just
published its annual review describing the
significant progress that has been made
in reducing waste in the food, textiles,
hospitality and electrical sectors. With the
Courtauld commitment entering a new
phase, this trend is set to continue. And
ironically, the EU has just awarded a prize
to the Environment Agency’s EDOC system.
Derbyshire’s own Dame Ellen
MacArthur has pioneered and publicized
the circular economy concept, inspiring the
EU Commission to adopt circular economy
thinking. The influence of her Foundation
extends worldwide, with many major global
corporations having signed up to the CE100
initiative. The conclusion seems to be that
the circular economy is a lot bigger than the
EU package, and although EU legislation
is likely to give it a boost in Europe, the UK
has every incentive to pursue a circular
economy and reap the economic, as
well as environmental, benefits that it
promises to bring.
For more information visit
www.wolterskluwer.com

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

Opinion

Why it’s time to centralise
public sector technology
Mark Hall, public sector director at Redcentric

T

he UK is in a time of political
change effecting businesses
and citizens, which is why it has
never been more important
for public services to provide a
seamless and secure experience.
Collaboration within the sector is
essential for creating an efficient public
service. Despite this, many local and central
government departments are currently
operating on siloed systems which hinder
communication.
The public sector has a history of IT
failures which have been highly visible to
the public and the media, with citizens and
businesses often on the receiving end of
complex systems and slow services. The
sheer size of the volume of data within the
public sector has made it difficult to digitise
many of the processes, with most
transactions seeing little transformation.
Over the past ten years however, the
landscape has begun to change for
government IT, with investment in
central networks which offers collaboration
between departments being produced in
order to improve efficiency and
effectiveness. Although adopting this
technology hasn’t been a priority within
the sector.

Fragmented networks
Police departments are an example
of where siloed networks have become
unmanageable and as a result, difficult to
access essential information. For instance,
tax avoidance within the UK is costing the
government approximately £16 billion a
year. By implementing a centralised
network which connects the police to
HMRC, it could significantly lower the
amount of revenue lost to tax evasion. Such
a move would enable the government to
gain better intelligence on who is
committing tax fraud as well as the other
parts of the tax gap such as internal
errors and legal tax avoidance. The extra
revenue gained could increase the public
fund, which would be beneficial to all using
government services as well as employees
working in the public sector.
The mass of different platforms has
made communication between
departments complex, which often leads
to additional work, cost and disruption to
public services. For those working within
the public sector, this lack of

10

communication can become increasingly
frustrating for employees wanting to make
crucial progress. Similarly, taxpayers
unsatisfied with government services may
refrain from using the service in the future.

Connecting the public sector
Collaboration between services has
already proven its worth. For example,
renewing a driver’s licence has been
streamlined by connecting to the Passport
Office, a service people have been
benefiting from for over a decade. The
DVLA can now validate citizenship using
a nine digit number from the applicant’s
digital passport. The process is simplified
further by the DVLA having access to
passport photos digitally, instead of the
applicant sending it through the post. This
collaboration is speeding up the original
process of filling in endless amounts of
paperwork while reducing the complexity
for those validating the documents.
For citizens it not only simplifies the
process but also ensures taxpayers’ money
is spent more efficiently on an end-user
focused service. The collaboration also
enables the Passport Office to manage the
increase of applications during the holiday
season efficiently and provide citizens with
up to date documents on time. This can all
be achieved without employees having to
work longer hours to complete the job and
without the delay of waiting for postage.
Everyone will at some point use a
service from local and central government.
Therefore, creating a straightforward
process which is time efficient, simple and
cost effective should be a priority
for improving the level of service citizens
are receiving.

IT transformation
The success of previous public sector IT
projects is the key to driving further
investment in connecting departments.
The Public Services Network (PSN) was
introduced to combat security risks,
simplify procedures and offer advanced
levels of availability. Now all public sector
organisations are strongly urged to deploy
PSN wherever applicable to provide the
best possible service and reduce the risk
of cyber threats. By bringing the mass of
frameworks into one centralised network,
it will not only increase productivity and

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

efficiency within the organisation but will
result in a flexible IT system which enables
departments to communicate quickly.
In the digital age, the public sector
must invest in services collectively rather
than separately, especially in a time of
increased data collection which comes with
the risk of personal information ending up
in the wrong hands. The PSN has provided
IT departments with secure and flexible
solutions which have helped eradicate
reoccurring issues in the past. Carrying out
this collaboration between other
departments has the potential to bring
local and central governments together to
improve internal security and protection of
personal client data.
There is limitless potential when
investing in centralised systems that will
benefit local and central government
departments. Digital technologies will
modernise services whilst being the most
cost efficient approach to combating the
major issues the public sector is faced with
on a daily basis. Local authorities who have
begun embracing the PSN to improve
delivery and connect have already reported
savings of up to £1.5 million – which
equates to 40 to 60 per cent of their costs.
Furthermore, the sensitive information
gathered and held by departments will be
protected securely and would be able to be
accessed more effectively.
Ultimately, local and central governments which ignore the benefits of the
Public Services Network are not only failing
to create opportunities to minimise
inefficiencies while putting crucial
information at risk of a security breach,
but they are also preventing citizens from
receiving the best possible service.
sayhello@redcentricplc.com

Opinion

Putting Furniture
Poverty to Bed

G

etting home at the end of a
long day and getting into bed
for a well-earned rest – just
one of the everyday activities
not always possible for the
14 million UK families unable to afford one
or more basic household goods like beds
and mattresses.
This inability to purchase even the most
basic of household items is known as
furniture poverty; less conspicuous than
fuel or food poverty but just as detrimental
to everything from an individual’s sense
of dignity to the ability to get a good
night’s sleep.
The number of UK households
struggling to cope with these poor living
conditions has more than doubled over the
last 20 years, with more and more families
now living without basic amenities like
washing machines, kettles, curtains,
mattresses, beds and chairs.
Furniture poverty is a nationwide
problem in the UK, however on a regional
level it is London that has the highest
number of individuals living on a low
income, with 2.3 million people struggling
financially after housing costs. The South
East has the second highest number, with
1.6 million, closely followed by the North
West with an average of 1.5 million people
living in relative poverty – a state of poverty
defined relative to the members of a
particular society.
The lack of ability to afford basics such
as a bed and a good quality mattress can
have dire consequences for an individual’s
quality of life and can even perpetuate the
poverty in which they live. Returning home
from a potentially stressful day’s work in
a low-paid job and being unable to get a
good night’s sleep due to having to sleep
on a thin, poor quality mattress leads to an
increased level of stress which then leads
to poor performance at work. For families
with young children the effects of furniture
poverty can be even more severe,
particularly when it comes to getting
enough sleep. At this early stage of their
development, sleep is of vital importance
to their health and growth, and missing out
on proper rest is known to result in poor
attention, lower grades, school absences,
social interaction issues and irritability.
General health is also affected, with studies
linking lack of sleep to hormonal disorders,
diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure.

Nick Oettinger, managing director at R&R
Beds, comments on the rise of furniture
poverty in the UK and why the public
sector needs to do more to help families in
need of basic household furniture

Of course, these physical and
psychological problems also apply to
adults who are suffering from poor quality
or a lack of sleep, and it’s the people
living in poverty and low-income housing
who are suffering the most.
All it takes to dramatically improve
the amount and quality of sleep a person
gets is access to a bed with a good quality
mattress. 14 per cent of people living on a
low income (less than £15,000 per year) say
their bed is the reason for poor sleep
quality, and so often these are the people
who aren’t able to access new mattresses.
Imagine, then, the difference that
could be made to children and adults living
in relative poverty across the UK, if they
could simply have access to a good quality
mattress and get the restorative sleep that
everybody deserves regardless of their
household income.
Due to budget restrictions, social
housing organisations are simply not able
to source and provide mattresses of a
suitable quality in order to facilitate a
good night’s sleep for people living in
social housing.
We are working on projects with
recyclers, charities and public sector
organisations to ensure everybody has
access to a comfortable, durable mattress
at home, by making sure that old and
unwanted mattresses aren’t simply
thrown away, but recycled and the
reusable parts made into brand new,
superior quality products and distributed
to families in need.
A good day will only follow from a good
night’s sleep and we believe excellent
quality mattresses should not be restricted
to only those with high levels of disposable
income. It makes no sense to dispose of
re-useable furniture, especially when we
know that these items can be broken down
and used to create brand new, superior
quality products. With the recycling

technology and capabilities we have today,
there is absolutely no need for families to
resort to sleeping on floors and makeshift
surfaces when they could be sleeping on a
comfortable bed.
Rather than just getting rid of unwanted
furniture, we want to raise awareness of
the recycling opportunities available to us
and how the resulting products can be put
to good use by someone in need. We know
that over 7.5 million mattresses in the UK
are sent to landfill every year, which, with
a good recycling and re-use process, could
be made use of and appreciated by families
in need in the region and across the UK.
The public sector needs to step up
efforts to identify and partner with more
companies, charities, housing associations
and recyclers to source good quality,
affordable mattresses and beds for
children and families living in furniture
poverty. In doing so, they can help give
these families the good night’s sleep they
deserve and work towards ending furniture
poverty in the UK.
For more information please visit
www.randrbeds.co.uk

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

11

Sustainable Building

Award for Centre
for Medicine’s
sustainability
credentials

L

argest non-residential
Passivhaus building at University
of Leicester is attracting praise
for its approach to managing its
environmental impact
The University of Leicester’s landmark
Centre for Medicine building has won the
ProCon Leicestershire Awards Sustainable
Development of the Year Award 2016.
The award, which recognises the best
new environmentally sustainable
development in Leicestershire or Rutland,
was announced this month at a ceremony
at the King Power Stadium.
The Centre for Medicine, built by
contractor Willmott Dixon, was certified
as UK’s largest non-residential Passivhaus
building earlier this year. Developed in
Germany in the early 1990s, Passivhaus is
the fastest-growing energy performance
standard in the world.
A key facet of Passivhaus is a ‘fabric first’
approach to construction and as such the
building is incredibly well insulated and air
tight to prevent heat leakage through the
windows, walls, floor and roof. Comfort for
staff, students and visitors from the local
community and beyond, will be maintained
by a state-of-the-art heating, cooling and
ventilation system.
The ProCon Leicestershire Awards

are the county’s biggest celebration of the
built environment and the people who
develop, design and construct winning
developments.
Pete Bale, Project Manager at the
University of Leicester, said: “I am delighted
that the Centre for Medicine has been
recognised for its Sustainability credentials,
which are of the highest environmental
standards. The Passivhaus approach
provides an exceptional internal
environment that not only provides high
quality study space but a building that
interacts with the users to minimise its
impact on the wider environment. It is a
credit to all involved and one day all
buildings will be built to these standards.”
Sandra Lee from Environment Team
at the University said: “The University is
working to embed sustainability in all our
operations, therefore it is only fitting that
a building that hosts cutting edge teaching
and research also utilises the best
technology to help minimise the University’s
impact on the environment as well as
maximising building user comfort to help
our staff and students be as alert and
productive as possible.”
James Elliment, operations manager
at Willmott Dixon, said: “The Centre for
Medicine is a truly pioneering scheme for

the higher education sector. Not only is it
one of the most energy efficient facilities of
its kind in the UK, it sets a new benchmark
for energy efficiency performance in
large-scale buildings. It also provides
exceptional teaching and learning spaces
for the university’s staff and students.”
“Passivhaus accreditation is extremely
challenging and the project team worked
tirelessly to ensure we achieved this for this
cutting-edge facility; it is a project that we
are all extremely proud of.”
The building has also recently won the
awards Best Commercial Project and Best
Public Sector Project in the recent KNX UK
Awards, for Entech (Energy Technlogy) Ltd.
The awards recognise the key role that the
KNX international building control standard
played in allowing every element of the
building control to be integrated in order to
achieve the Passivhaus standard.
The Centre for Medicine is the largest
investment in medical teaching and applied
research by a UK university in the last
decade.
To make a donation to the Centre for
Medicine Appeal, or for more information,
please visit www.le.ac.uk/savinglives

Sustainable Building

BIM – THE CATALYST IN
PROVIDING THE NHS WITH
21ST CENTURY BUILDINGS
What’s more, the government is
leading the way – a main contractor
builder tendering for a public building
must have BIM Level 2 fully engrained into
their business.

BIM4Health in practice

T

he NHS is facing additional
challenges as it moves towards
delivering a 24/7 service. With
patient welfare at the top of
everyone’s agenda, building
for the future has never been as
important as it is now. An increasing and
ageing population, coupled with escalating
costs, are putting a huge strain on
healthcare budgets.
Building Information Modelling (BIM),
together with offsite construction
techniques, affords quicker, informed
decisions about building for the future.
With many NHS trusts across the UK in
debt and facing unprecedented financial
challenges, the introduction of BIM offers
some hope for estates managers looking to
deliver savings, whilst lifting building quality,
as Jim Gowan, design manager at Actavo
Building Solutions, explains:

The BIM treatment
Simply put, BIM is an NHS estate
manager’s dream. The holistic answer
to the construction industry’s unrelenting
question of how to build everything and
anything more safely and faster, BIM
achieves higher quality standards
more cheaply and, when coupled
with offsite construction, creates even
greater efficiencies.
BIM relies heavily on better planning
and design, so a building can perform to
the highest standard throughout its
lifecycle, from concept to demolition.
In one model, BIM pulls everything
together – stakeholders’ opinions,
optimising environmental performance,
supply chain management and identifying
clashes early in the construction process.

The NHS has a responsibility to account
for its assets and the launch of BIM4Health,
in November 2014, was a key step towards
greater transparency.
BIM4Health’s focus is on BIM Level 2
and getting the supply chain to shift from
a culture of independence towards one
of collaboration - which is what BIM is all
about. Combining the expertise of every
party through one 3D, integrated, digital
model to optimise a building’s performance,
BIM results in a greater whole-life cost
value of the asset, from a building’s primary
use to how that may change over time. The
upfront cost is clear and the savings to be
made in the future are transparent.
3D visualisation of what a new build will
look like, its environmental performance
and savings made throughout a building’s
life, enables estates managers to see
beyond bricks and mortar and the
possibility of modular methods.
Time is of the essence in the
healthcare sector and we will see a shift
from traditional building methods to the
quick design and delivery using offsite
construction. For example, a small
outpatient or specialist treatment facility
can be operational after just one month’s
onsite works, whereas a traditional build
programme generally takes upwards of
26 weeks.

BIM brings real opportunity to
personalise buildings to meet not just
sustainability and environmental targets.
but also the needs of today and the future.

BIM – fits offsite construction
better than traditional
Offsite or modular construction
methods have often been seen as
expensive compared to traditional build
– but BIM is a game-changer.
Modular buildings can now be built to
any specification – BREEAM, PassivHaus
or AECB. As BIM helps extend design life,
it can exploit advances in materials and
improvements in sustainability and
energy efficiency.
Although initial costs are broadly
similar, the speed of build and reduced
time onsite delivers tangible benefits for
modular over traditional build. The
whole-life cost and efficiencies weigh in
favour of offsite.
Buildings manufactured in factories and
assembled onsite make the construction
industry safer due to their more controlled
environments. They are also faster – just
four weeks, in some cases – making it
easier for estate and facilities managers to
plan and re-direct resources.
The capabilities of offsite more than
match traditional build. Patient wards,
theatres, A&E departments and cleanrooms
can all be designed, built and delivered in
12 weeks, reducing the impact on bed
availability and the need for interim
short-term hire.
www.actavo.com/buildings

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

13

Sustainable Building

T

How to Choose a
Building Management
System (BMS)

he global building management
systems (BMS) market size is
projected to surpass USD 6
billion (£4.9bn) by 2023, recent
research from Global Market
Insights suggests.
With buildings becoming ever more
complex. And Part L2, Building Regulations
stating we monitor all services and reduce
energy wastage. Is it any wonder that we
rely upon building management systems
more and more?
To help you evaluate the large range
of systems on the market Reece Thomas,
Controls Project Manager of Airedale
International Air Conditioning Ltd, has
come up with a checklist of key criteria
which you should consider when
evaluating a BMS partner.

Detailed Reports
It is essential that your BMS provides
a range of reports so that you can
monitor measure and forecast your
building’s performance to create
progressive actions, make system
corrections, and optimise your building
performance.
Customised rather than standard
reports, that provide data driven
prioritisation based on your own specific
goals - for example, saving energy,
improving comfort or better life cycle
maintenance - are essential.
Of equal importance is that the reports
are visually easy-to-read and can be
interpreted by a wide range of people who
may need this data to support their role.

Flexibility

Open Data Communication
One of the key elements behind a
BMS is the ability to provide open
standard communication protocols such
as BACnet or SNMP to allow extensive
integration possibilities between different
systems and devices. The BMS will need
to span older and newer devices and
protocols, sometimes aggregate multiple
protocols and send the information to
front-end system.
Avoid any BMS that uses languages or
technical protocols that lock you into using
their vendor’s proprietary technology.

Service Support
A good BMS should flag up
maintenance issues, such as inefficient
equipment, early so that it can be improved
or even replaced.
By having a service contract in place
you will eliminate unforeseen costs and
ensure peace of mind. A contract will
also ensure direct and immediate access
to the latest system upgrades and
software developments.

Standardised Design
Selecting a BMS with a standardised
design built on previous experience,
ensures that all of the complex
programming work needed to
communicate with power, cooling, and IT
systems has already been done and that it
is already pre-configured to interact with
3rd party systems making implementation
much simpler. Trying to use highly custom,

According to guidelines from CIBSE,
a BMS should be capable of dealing with
a future 20% increase in the number of
points without compromising the system’s
functionality or speed of operation. This
ensures that as your organisation grows,
the solution can meet its needs.
You also need to ensure that your
BMS is able to handle additions, changes
and upgrades that any user could
potentially require.

14

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

“one off” products that aren’t designed to
work together can make installation,
operation, and maintenance of the tools
very difficult.

Proven Track Record
Look for a provider with solid
industry expertise in building management,
who understands the particular challenges
of your sector, and who is a market
leader that will provide a solution that
continually evolves to keep up with the
market changes.

System Security
Ensure that security is a key priority
for your BMS provider. Your BMS should
include a range of resilient security features
with intelligent parameters such as; secure
remote account logins with defined user
level access, SSL certification to
authenticate connections/users, and
encrypted HTTPS connection and data
stream for controllers to cloud.
As you can see, there are many aspects
to consider when selecting the right BMS.
But the correct, well specified and up to the
minute BMS, can transform your building
equipment usage and results.
www.airedale.com

Sustainable Building

Why a ‘Wood First’ Policy Stacks Up

A

s construction makes up a
total of 45% of carbon
emissions in the UK,
sustainability is an important
issue for the industry and one
that should be addressed throughout every
aspect of the build - from the sourcing of
materials through to the long term impact
of the final structure. As one of the most
renewable mainstream construction
materials, the increased use of engineered
timber as the core structural component
enhances the construction industries
credentials not only from a sustainable
perspective but equally from achieving
optimum speed and performance.
Greg Cooper, Pre-Construction
Manager of the X-LAM Alliance, discusses
the positive impact of cross laminated
timber (CLT) within the built environment:
“Identifying and measuring carbon
properties are now a fundamental part of
any construction business. There are two
ways of decreasing CO2 in the atmosphere
– either by reducing emissions, or by
removing CO2 and storing it. Wood has the
unique ability to do both.
We may commonly hear the term
‘carbon sequestration’, which is the process
of capturing and long-term storage of
atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Solid
wood products such as cross laminated
timber (CLT) are natural, renewable and are
far less energy-intensive to produce and
apply. When compared to other building
materials such as concrete or steel, the
environmental credentials of CLT are far
superior. Not only is it a renewable
material, it involves very little waste
during production and is extremely carbon
efficient to transport. When we consider
the whole manufacturing processes for the
production of each m3 of CLT, -676kg of
CO2 will still be stored after the
production process.
Taking on board the importance of
monitoring and reducing environmental
damage in construction, the X-LAM Alliance
has developed a Carbon Calculator, an
innovative digital resource that gives carbon
estimates to help assess the best ecological
solution. Material resolutions and transport
factors are entered into the system and the
calculator then produces carbon estimates,
to act as a guideline for different project
scenarios. This enables professionals to
gather early information about the
ecological impact of their future
development.
As one of the companies leading the
way in sustainable construction, we apply
best practice principles throughout all
aspects of our processes, from raw material
procurement through to manufacturing

and offsite processes as well as onsite
assembly.
The Chain of Custody Certification for
both PEFC and FSC® outlines requirements
for the ability to track certified material
from the forest to the final product. This
ensures that both the wood contained in
the actual product and wood used
throughout the production line originates
from certified forests.
For the wood-processing industry,
Full Chain of Custody Certification can
improve efficiency and production systems
by enhancing traceability and accounting.
This means that all legal requirements are
met, forest cultivation of sourced timber
is managed well and forestry workers are
treated fairly.
Traditional building processes are
noted to be highly wasteful in terms of
materials and figures indicated that around
32% of landfill waste comes from the
construction and demolition of buildings.
However, cross laminated timber as an
offsite solution can dramatically improve
these statistics, producing significantly
lower amounts of wastage, due to the
factory controlled methods of construction.
Recycling is far easier to implement in a
factory environment, therefore cutting
materials to size before delivery to site
significantly reduces onsite waste and the
associated expense of disposal.
Cross laminated timber, as a rapid,
robust and reliable offsite manufactured
solution, delivers many benefits during the
construction process and beyond. From
reducing loading on foundations through
to impressive thermal, acoustic and
airtightness performance – cross laminated
timber construction enhances projects
across all sectors.
Reducing the loading on foundations
is particularly important for inner city
construction where the underground
infrastructure results in loading restrictions.
Using CLT, as a lighter weight structural
solution, can increase, for example, the
amount of storeys in a residential build
– offering a better return on investment.
Manufactured to exceptional levels of
accuracy in factory controlled conditions
ensures minimal defects and improves
construction and project delivery time,
reducing costs and maximising efﬁciency
on all levels - providing cost and
programme certainty.
However the benefits do not end after
the construction phase.
Due to the enhanced performance
values and robust nature of cross
laminated timber, the on-going lifecycle
costs of the building is vastly reduced
through fewer maintenance requirements

and lower energy consumption.
Finally and most importantly the design
of a building can be critical to the wellbeing
of its occupants. Much has been written
about the impact construction can have on
the environment but very little on the effect
a building can have on its occupants. The
influence construction materials can have
on the comfort and wellbeing of end users
is an area where more research is required,
however evidence is now emerging about
the role cross laminated timber can play in
enhancing internal environments.
Engineered timber, as a core structural
solution, is gaining traction across the
industry and from my professional
standpoint, a wood first policy not only
‘stacks up’ from a construction cost and
performance perspective but also in
creating better buildings for people to live,
work and relax.”

Learnings and Understanding
The X-LAM Alliance can assist at every
stage of your construction journey – from
pre-tender design through to onsite
delivery and everything in between. As
industry specialists, they offer one hour
CPD sessions. These development sessions
are tailored to meet the requirements of
architects, engineers, specifiers and cover
the technical and performance benefits.
To find out more information visit:
www.xlam-alliance.com

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

15

Sustainable Building

Better Thinking,
Better Health in
Green-Certified
Buildings

Benefits may extend beyond workday to include improved sleep quality

C

onsidering all the time we
spend at work, have you ever
wondered if the building you
are working in is healthy? Or,
could make you think better,
or be more productive?
Researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan
School of Public Health and SUNY Upstate
Medical University didn’t just wonder,
they set out to answer those questions.
Studying 109 workers at 10 buildings in 5
cities across the U.S., they discovered that
working in green-certified buildings was
associated with higher cognitive function
scores, fewer sick building symptoms and
higher sleep quality scores.
The study builds on the team’s 2015
COGfx Study – COGfx is shorthand for your
brain’s cognitive function – which found
significantly higher cognitive function test
scores for office workers in a simulated
green building environment with enhanced
ventilation compared to a conventional
building environment.
In the new study, presented
pre-publication at the U.S. Green Building
Council’s annual Greenbuild conference in
L.A., employees in high-performing, green
certified buildings had 26% higher cognitive
function test scores than those in similarly
high-performing buildings that were not
green certified, even after controlling for
other potential explanatory factors. Among
the findings, participants had:
•
73% higher crisis response scores
•
44% higher applied activity level
scores, which reflect ability to gear
decision-making toward overall goals
•
38% higher focused activity level
scores, which reflect capacity to pay
attention to tasks at hand
•
31% higher strategy scores
In addition to these statistically
significant findings, the study also found
that employees reported 30% fewer sick
building symptoms and had 6% higher

16

sleep quality scores compared to those
working in high-performing buildings that
were not green-certified, indicating that
benefits of green buildings may extend
beyond the workday.
“Certified green buildings not only
deliver environmental benefits, they can
have positive impacts on the productivity
and thinking of the people in those
buildings. That’s a powerful combination
that can accelerate the green building
movement globally,” said John Mandyck,
Chief Sustainability Officer, United
Technologies.
Based on their latest findings, the
research team believes a holistic approach
is needed. “We’re advocating for what we
call Buildingomics - a new approach that
examines the totality of factors in the
building-related environment,” said Dr.
Joseph Allen, Assistant Professor of
Exposure Assessment Science at the
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health,
Director of the Healthy Buildings Program
at the Center for Health and the Global
Environment at Harvard Chan School, and
Principal Investigator for the study.
‘Through Buildingomics’ multi
disciplinary approach, we aim to better
understand the factors that influence
health in buildings and unlock the ability to
optimize buildings for improved cognitive
function and health,” said Dr. Allen.
The full report will be made available at
www.CHGEHarvard.org/COGfxStudy and
www.theCOGfxStudy.com.
Follow the discussion on Twitter using the
hashtag #TheCOGfxStudy.
Primary support for the study came from
United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) and its
UTC Climate, Controls & Security
business.

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

Sustainable Building

HOSPITAL BENEFITS FROM
ENHANCED FRAME PROTECTION

I

mpact protection sheet by
leading door protection specialists
and suppliers, Intastop Ltd, has been
commissioned by Bespoke Complete
Services Ltd to protect door frames
and prevent costly repairs at Northwick
Park Hospital which is part of one of the
largest integrated care trusts in the UK.
Doors frames throughout high traffic
corridors at the primary healthcare facility
were continually experiencing unsightly
damage therefore reducing the integrity of
the frame meaning costly repairs. Until
Bespoke Complete Services selected
Intastop and its Impact Protection Sheet
to wrap the door frames to offer unrivalled
protection along with antibacterial
properties, essential in any healthcare
environment.
“The protection sheet used includes
Hygienilac which is exclusive to Intastop
and was a vital part of our ongoing work at
Northwick Park Hospital to provide not only
a robust product but one that was also a
cost effective solution to unsightly
damaged door frames,” said Matthew

Haworth, Production Manager, Bespoke.
“We were able to work in-conjunction with
the team at Intastop to offer a perfect
colour match product to the existing
interior scheme which also offered ongoing
antibacterial protection whilst at the same
time delivering a superb level of service to
the unit.”
The anti-bacterial impact protection
sheet which incorporates Hygienilacâ, can
be utilised in all aspects of door and wall
protection and as it can be ordered in full
sheets or pre-cut gives specifiers and
installers complete flexibility. Furthermore,
it is Class ‘O’ fire rated and is tested to
BS476 parts 6 & 7 giving customers and
end users complete confidence in the its
abilities to safely protect the infrastructure
of its building and the people using it. In
this instance, the product was installed in
a retro-fit situation but is ideally suited to
installation at the time of build.
“Our Hygienilac Impact Protection Sheet
has endless potential to be used across a
wide variety of sectors and products and
can be used to wrap existing products

due to its 2mm thickness and ability to be
cut or ordered to size,” said Sarah Barsby
Marketing Director Intastop Ltd. “We are
pleased to supply our outstanding products
to Northwick Park Hospital and are
confident it will alleviate costly frame
repairs for many, many years to come.”
Hygienilac Impact Protection Sheet can
be pre-cut to size and shaped or simply
cut on site at the time of installation using
a Stanley knife, giving installers increased
flexibility. Sheet edges can be supplied
chamfered to order with a pre-taped option
available. A range of colours is available to
give specifiers increased capabilities to
co-ordinate with existing interior schemes.
For further detailed information about door,
people and places protection including
anti-ligature solutions visit
www.intastop.com

Sustainable Building

Case Study – Intouch
with Health/ABMU

W

hen ABMU (Abertawe
Bro Morgannwg
University) Health Board
decided to build a £60
million, state-of-the-art
new hospital building, they knew it was
important to invest in ensuring patients
continued to receive the best possible
experience when they visited.
With over 1000 outpatients’
appointments every day, there was a
need to evolve a system that worked well
for the current building so it worked even
better and was future-proofed for the
new building.
A joined-up approach was required that
reduced the administrative burden while
increasing patient satisfaction and when
the new facility opened in July 2015, this is
what was delivered.
The solution was a fully integrated
patient flow solution helping doctors,
nurses and other staff effectively manage
the entire patient journey, improving
efficiencies and, most importantly,
making the patient’s experience as positive
as possible.
As one of the largest hospitals in Wales,
Morriston Hospital in Swansea is home to
an extensive range of outpatient services

18

including renal medicine, neurology, oral
and maxillofacial surgery, and a regional
tertiary cleft service for children and adults.
A five-year project was announced in
2012 to build a new home for these services
in a state-of-the-art, purpose-built, two-floor
outpatient building. An important part of
the project was to also develop better, more
efficient ways of capturing patient data and
making visits to the hospital as seamless as
possible for patients.

Behind the scenes investment
Programme Manager Suzanne Rodgers
says it was vital this investment behind
the scenes went alongside the very visible
building work taking place: “From the word
go, we needed to ensure that we took a
whole system approach to dealing with the
entire patient journey to be certain that we
were able to capture everything – from
patient arrivals to test information to
outcome records – accurately and in
real time.
“In the past, all these processes had
largely been paper based, a system that
had worked well for us but was in need
of updating to ensure improved patient
flow administration, made up of the least

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

amount of steps possible and reducing
both paper and time wastage.”
She continues: “To make sure we
started on the right track towards achieving
our aim of creating a modern and paper
light outpatients’ environment, we
partnered with patient flow management
specialists Intouch with Health, based
in Cirencester.”
There were several challenges that
Suzanne and the team at ABMU needed
to address alongside Intouch to ensure
that the solution worked functionally in
the hospital.
Says Suzanne: “We had a brand-new
building being developed so any solution
had to consider the new operational
environment as well as the varying
requirements of multiple departments
that were ‘moving in’ to the building.
“Two large patient waiting areas, that
were to be included as part of the ground
floor of the new building, also needed to
be managed effectively, and above all, a
huge variation in existing working practices
meant that we had to work with Intouch to
work with all those who would be moving
into the new facility to ensure the new
system met their needs.”

Sustainable Building
Establishing a key stakeholder
team
To move the project forward, Suzanne
and her team worked alongside Intouch to
establish a multi-disciplinary team that was
built up of key stakeholders from across
clinical and operational roles, as well as the
Health Board’s own IT and software
development team and the National
Programme for Informatics (NWIS).
She continues: “We conducted detailed
process mapping with clinical colleagues
to encourage them to challenge ways of
working and to help them realise, and
then maximise, the benefits of technology
enabled working.
“As a result, we were able to gain a
detailed understanding of the whole patient
journey from a multi-disciplinary
perspective, and identify waste and key
areas where we needed to make
improvements to patient flow and data
capture. This allowed us to put together a
detailed specification for what we needed
and led us to the decision to procure a
solution from Intouch.”
A key foundation in supporting ABMU’s
aim of achieving a ‘paper-light’ environment
for the new building would be for its
clinicians to have electronic access to
patient records. To support this, ABMU
designed a bespoke Documents
Management System (DMS) in conjunction
with Intouch.
Suzanne explains: “We worked with a
large group of secretaries to build our DMS
to allow us to create and store clinical
correspondence electronically.
“Using the NHS number as the patient
identifiers in the DMS, our clinicians can
access all patient letters, regardless of the
hospital site the patient has visited. Other
key documents including discharge
summaries and operation notes have also
been made accessible in a web based
documents portal that has been designed
with the input of our clinicians.”

A new patient journey
So what does the patient journey look
like now at ABMU?
“It’s a much more integrated affair”,
says Suzanne. “When a patient arrives they
check themselves in and are then directed
by the kiosk to the appropriate waiting area
to their appointment.
“When the clinician is ready, that patient
is then called to the consultation room via
an electronic screen, which in itself has
helped to make the patient’s wait time a
much more pleasant experience.”
The management of patient tests has

also been addressed as part of the flow
management solution, with the process
becoming a lot more efficient.
Suzanne adds: “If any patients have a
test as part of their appointment, we can
now manage this electronically and provide
departments such as radiology and ECG
with a live work list of expected patients,
meaning they can manage and control
the traffic within the department much
more effectively.
“We have also been able to completely
cut out unnecessary waits for busy
departments such as Radiology by using
electronic outcome forms to record what
tests are required on the patient’s next
visit, and then updating our Patient
Administration System (PAS) which will then
bypass reception and direct them straight
to Radiology on their next visit.”
The implementation of electronic
outcome forms has also enabled ABMU
clinicians to take direct control over the
next step of a patient’s journey, including
when and where they should be seen.
Suzanne adds: “Switching to electronic
outcome recording has meant our clinicians
can enter information in real time
ensuring that procedure outcomes are
recorded and data captured accurately,
which in turn helps to improve our patient
pathway and reduces the amount of time
that admin staff spend on completing the
input of paper forms.”

been moved through the department
using some or all of our patient flow
solution, providing a much-improved
hospital experience. In addition, over 87
per cent of patients are choosing to check
themselves in on our kiosk, which has
meant our reception team are able to deal
with those who do need to speak to them
more efficiently.
“Being able to fully integrate the whole
patient flow solution has also allowed us to
standardise over a million clinic letters and
documents which are now stored centrally,
and our DMS enables ABMU Health Board
letters to be available at a national level.
“Since going live, we have received
positive feedback from our clinical,
administrative and senior management
teams. Our patient surveys have also
collated fantastic feedback across the
board.
“One person even likened the new
hospital to moving from the fourth division
to the premiership. Now there’s a
compliment!”

Realising the benefits
Turning Morriston Hospital into a
paper light, ultra-efficient building
presented a number of challenges. But,
says Suzanne, the Health Board is already
realising the many benefits of an efficient
flow of patients.
“To date, over 160,000 patients have

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

19

Sustainable Building

FIRST PHASE OF £44 MILLION
SCHOOL CAMPUS IS HANDED
OVER – A NEW SPECIAL NEEDS
SCHOOL FOR LONDON

T

he Portakabin Group has
handed over the first phase of
a £44 million school campus for
the London Borough of Barking
and Dagenham, which will be the
UK’s largest free school campus.
Constructed using a Yorkon off-site
solution, the new special educational
needs (SEN) school for Riverside Bridge
has doubled its capacity in time for the
start of the 2016/17 academic year,
providing much needed additional places
at an earlier stage.
The SEN scheme is part of the
23,000sqm Riverside Campus – an
innovative new three-school campus which
will accommodate 2,645 children aged
from 0 to 19. Designed by Surface to Air
Architects, it will be operated by the
multi-academy trust, Partnership Learning,
and will integrate provision for nursery,
primary, special needs, secondary, and
sixth form pupils. The second and final
phase will be handed over by Portakabin in
late Spring 2017.
According to Anna Hope, Head of
School at Riverside Bridge, “The new
building already feels very familiar to our
children and part of the design was to
facilitate the transition as some special
needs children are very sensitive to change.
The wide corridors, larger classrooms and
overall design have created a really calm
environment for the children. They love the

20

floor-to-ceiling windows which overlook the
outside play area and allow lots of light into
the building for a very welcoming feel.”
“We participated in weekly meetings
with the construction team which were
invaluable and allowed us input into the
design. This attention to detail has helped
to make this an outstanding building. This
is still a live construction site but we are
kept fully up-to-speed with how the wider
project is progressing so we can maintain
safety and reassure parents. The
Portakabin team are so mindful of the
children’s wellbeing. They worked around
the clock to complete the floor above us as
far as possible to avoid noise which could
upset the children once we had moved in.
And site deliveries have been restricted to
avoid the times when our children arrive
and leave the school.”
“Portakabin has really understood how
to work with special educational needs
children and has been absolutely brilliant.
All the small details have made the whole
construction experience fantastic for us.”
Jane Hargreaves, Strategic Director of
Education at London Borough of Barking
and Dagenham said, “Portakabin has been
easy to work with, and the scheme has
been on target to the advantage of our
special needs students”.
The new purpose-designed facility has
doubled the capacity of Riverside Bridge
School to 64 children and will have space to
further expand it to 160 places. Portakabin
phased the construction programme to
allow the SEN school to open on its new
site ahead of the other buildings at
Riverside Campus. On completion of the
overall development, the SEN school will
work very closely with the primary and
secondary schools, creating an inclusive
educational environment.
The use of a Yorkon off-site solution
from the Portakabin Group for the
curriculum areas of the campus has
significantly reduced the programme time
for faster completion. This has helped to
address the demand for school places in
the area as a result of new housing. Off-site

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

construction allowed the structure to be
manufactured in York at the same time as
the major ground works were progressed
on site and created a high quality,
watertight structure for fitting out much
earlier in the build programme.
Features of the new SEN school include:
•
Wider corridors to help children who
have mobility or balance issues, giving
them a sense of independence which
improves their confidence
•
A large amount of storage space in
the classrooms with lockable
cupboards to allow as much clear
space as possible and maintain a safe
learning environment
•
Hard-wearing solid ceilings as items
can be thrown into the air which
would damage tiled ceilings
•
Hygienic, easy-to-clean flooring which
is ideal for messy play and painting
•
A sensory room with specialist lighting
•
Hygiene rooms located on each floor
and equipped with a hoist to assist
children in wheelchairs
•
A specially-designed SEN playground
with timber trail ways. The children
also have access to a mini outdoor
amphitheatre and raised plant beds
•
An external canopy for each classroom
to provide a sheltered outdoor space
for learning and play.
The Portakabin Group is the main
contractor for the Riverside Campus
project. The contract was procured and
awarded by the London Borough of Barking
and Dagenham via the Council’s Local
Education Partnership, Thames Partnership
for Learning. It is funded by the
Department for Education.
The scheme is the seventh school
building contract awarded to Portakabin
by the London Borough of Barking and
Dagenham and follows on from two
earlier phases at a school near to the
Riverside Campus.
For further information visit
www.yorkon.co.uk

Sustainable Environment

Time is up for ear-blasting technology,
peaceful washrooms are back

D

rying your hands almost
instantly in a public toilet is a
welcome benefit of the latest
technology in electric hand
dryers. But there’s a price
to pay. Some super-fast hand dryers have
the same impact on the human ear as a
subway train, causing discomfort to all, and
unnecessary stress to those with
hypersensitivity to noise, hearing problems
or conditions such as dementia and autism.
However, from today, Quiet Mark is
providing a simple guide to the quietest
options on the market with the launch of its
hand dryer category.
Quiet Mark tested a broad range of
hand dryers and only the quietest,
high-performance machines achieved a
Quiet Mark award. This universal symbol
makes it easier for those in charge of
restaurants, bars, leisure centres, shops,
libraries, hospitals and public conveniences
to consider sound levels when assessing
hand dryers for their venues.
Until now, the sound levels of hand
dryers in real-life situations have often
been underestimated. This is because they
are commonly tested in ultra-absorbent
acoustic laboratories, rather than in highly
reverberant washrooms and toilets, where
their loud motor noise can be
uncomfortably amplified. They may also be
tested without human hands in the airflow,
which can add up to 10dB in some cases.
The combination of these factors means
that the machine can be twice as loud as
some test results might show.

Real-life testing environment for
accurate results
Quiet Mark’s acoustic testing, however,
sets machines up in an environment that
replicates real-world conditions, with tiled
wall surfaces and hard flooring – both
of which reflect sound, and can make a
product seem noisier to the user.
Measurements are taken at adult head
height, as if standing next to the dryer, and
with hands in the airflow as they would be
in real use. All this ensures that the Quiet
Mark is only awarded to hand dryers that
are the quietest in real washrooms.

set-up at Quiet Mark’s facilities.
Testing was carried out using a dB1
Duo Class 1 sound level meter.
The hand dryers were divided
into three categories: Hands-under
samples using hot air; hands-under
samples using high-speed (cold) air; and
hands-in (U-shaped) samples using
high-speed air. Noise levels were recorded
for each model when operating with no
hands, still hands and moving hands in
the airflow.

Quiet Mark reveals Britain’s
quietest hand dryers

The results
Hands-under hot-air dryers were found
to be the quietest when in use. Of those
tested in this category, the Airdri Quest,
Quazar, Quartz and Quad; and Intelligent
Dryflow Elite MK II were awarded.
The Dyson Airblade V, Handy Dryers
Dillo, Intelligent Eco Force and American
Dryer eXtremeAir GXT / CPC (with dial fixed
at acoustic pass level) were awarded in the
hands-under high-speed dryers category.
Mitsubishi Electric Jet Towel, Handy
Dryers Gorilla Ultra and Intelligent Jet Force
and Stealthforce PLUS were awarded
among the hands-in high-speed dryers.

Inspiring acoustic design
Poppy Szkiler, founder and managing
director of Quiet Mark, comments: “We’re
thrilled to be launching a hand dryer
category at Quiet Mark. There are lots of
people who find hand dryer noise
uncomfortable – to the point where it puts
them off visiting a public bathroom, or
drying their hands thoroughly. Drying is a
vital part of hand hygiene, so it is imperative
that people don’t leave with wet hands just
because a dryer is too loud.
“Our testing in a real environment helps
build an accurate understanding of hand
dryer noise, and enables buyers to identify
the quietest models. We hope that more
venues will now buy quiet to help those
who are fed up of being blasted by noise.
We’d like this to be the start of more
emphasis on acoustic interior design of
public bathrooms. Quiet hand dryers could
be complemented with well-designed
cubicles, as has recently been done at
Gatwick South Terminal, to produce a more
comfortable aural environment.”
Trudi Osborne, Group Head of Dryer
Sales and Marketing Projects, The AIRDRI
Group, comments: “Quiet operation stands
alongside fast drying as a leading
requirement in Airdri’s hand dryer

development. We recognised the
importance of noise level reduction back in
2012 and that year became the first hand
dryer manufacturer to be awarded the
Quiet Mark by the UK Noise Abatement
Society for one of our fast-dry models.
Going forward, we will always develop hand
dryers that achieve low noise levels to help
those susceptible to acoustic distress such
as the young, the elderly, those who are
hard of hearing or those who are on the
autistic spectrum.”
Sam Bernard, Global Category Director
at Dyson Professional, comments: “At
Dyson we don’t just pay attention to how
our products perform – we also obsess
about how they sound. The latest Dyson
Airblade V hand dryer is 35% quieter than
its predecessor, while maintaining a fast
and hygienic dry time of 12 seconds. As
health and wellbeing in commercial
environments comes under increasing
scrutiny, Quiet Mark recognises the
importance of controlling excessive noise.”
Andy Cameron, Sales Director of
Intelligent Hand Dryers, says: “We have
campaigned for an industry standard for
acoustic and noise levels in the hand dryer
market for some time. It’s vitally important
to make hand dryers inclusive for all,
with smooth and tolerable noise levels for
all users.”
Stephen Levy, Managing Director of
Handy Dryers, says: “Handy Dryers are
proud to work with Quiet Mark. Our focus
is constantly on improving the washroom
experience. Our hand dryers not only offer
cutting edge design and performance, they
are now also recognised as some of the
quietest in their class.”
Fawn Litchfield, Jet Towel Business
Development Manager at Mitsubishi
Electric, comments: “Facilities, designers
and managers are increasingly concerned
with minimising background noise in their
premises. A busy washroom can have
hand dryers in almost constant use, and
noisy ones may be heard many metres
away from the washroom. The Quiet Mark
represents instant confirmation that the
Mitsubishi Jet Towel range is a good choice
for creating a calm atmosphere in
washrooms and out into wider public
spaces.”
www.quietmark.com

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

21

Sustainable Environment

Introducing GRITIT
Sensors - the next
Game Changer in
winter maintenance

O

ver recent years, winter
gritting has been
transformed by technology.
At GRITIT, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been proud
to pioneer a scientific
approach that goes beyond spreading salt,
to applying leading edge research and IT to
better understand how, and when, to take
proactive steps to prevent ice and snow
settling on a site. For us, the key to an
effective service comes down to knowledge.
Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why our service has been powered by a
technology platform, NIMBUS, which
integrates the latest forecasting and
reporting technology to drive proactive
and timely action by our operatives. With
accurate data as to the conditions at each

clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sites, it is possible to deliver a
service exactly when ground temperature
drops to the point when gritting is needed.

Better service, through better
data
Without adequate knowledge, the
whole process of winter gritting is a far
riskier prospect in every sense. Taking a
conservative, safety-first approach and
gritting whenever a frost is probable can
incur higher costs and wasteful over
servicing that over the course of the winter
can add thousands to winter maintenance
budgets. More importantly from a risk

management and safety perspective, it is
essential to consider the opposite scenario
- where ground conditions on site are
actually worse than the local weather
forecast might indicate. In this case, an
inability to respond to conditions as they
develop on site could lead to a higher risk
of accidents. In either scenario, real time
weather data has proved a game changer
in enabling a more agile service that can
react faster to changing conditions,
reducing both costs and liabilities.
By transforming from an industry based
on human judgement and manual
processes into a data-driven and agile
business, GRITIT has lead the winter
maintenance industry onto a road that

Sustainable Environment
virtually all other industries are now
travelling. And yet, across society at large,
this move towards digitisation is only just
starting. Alongside our ability and readiness
to place data - and Big Data - at the heart of
virtually all business processes has come a
wider awareness of the need to source ever
more relevant and timely data to allow
businesses to better anticipate and
respond to the needs of their customers.
This seems rather abstract, but it is
exactly what is happening next in winter
maintenance.

Sensor technologies bring real
time insight of conditions on the
ground
At GRITIT, our in-house technology
team has spent the past three years
developing GRITIT Sensors, an exciting new
technology that will power our next
generation service offering.
GRITIT Sensors are a bespoke
hardware solution that can send readings
of relative road surface temperatures and
precipitation data in real-time straight to
our NIMBUS system. These compact and
highly cost-effective digital temperature
sensors can be placed on any surface and
are independently powered to provide live
readings from client sites. In particular, they
can be placed on raised structures, bridges,
and elevated walkways and/or be used to
offer enhanced monitoring of high-traffic or
of high-risk areas.
Once again, this all comes back to
knowledge: Despite the very high
sophistication of forecast data, sensors
will offer an additional layer of security and
accuracy to improve the delivery and timing
of a service to a given site. Steve Webb,
Commercial Director, Gritit describes the
challenge: “Although short range forecast
data is reasonably accurate these days, it is
still not 100 per cent and certainly doesn’t
take into account individual anomalies, local
weather behaviour, or changes that haven’t
been forecast. It may also not adequately
offer sufficient accuracy at particularly high
risk sites.”
By offering a real time, live feed of
actual temperature conditions it will be
possible to provide greater accuracy of
service and thus avoid over-servicing when
it’s not necessary, and thereby reduce the
potential for mistakes arising from
inaccurate forecasts. And while Sensors aim
to mitigate risks as much as possible, they
can also provide added protection from
liabilities, by providing evidence of actual
temperatures on the ground should any
accidents occur.
Crucially, this same ability to deliver
more localised data is already in-use on

most of the UK’s roads and highways,
helping to save taxpayers’ money as well as
giving greater protection against accidents.
However, that level of service has been
reliant on very expensive data or devices
and therefore is relatively inaccessible. By
comparison, GRITIT Sensors are a
comparatively inexpensive piece of
technology, the costs of which - leaving
aside their added value in terms of added
safety and reduction of liabilities - could
be rapidly recovered through savings to
winter budgets. For some sites, where a
MET Office contract has been cost
prohibitive, sensor technologies will have
the most impact, making proactive
monitoring and responding to road surface
temperatures possible for the first time.
“We have seen great promise when
piloting this technology, and have already
had a fantastic response from several of
our clients that are interested in the added
security,” explains Webb. “There’s also an
important business case at sites that have
already had accidents and where
organisations need to demonstrate an
additional duty of care.”

online services.
This trend is commonly known as the
Internet of Things (IoT) and encompasses
everything from Internet-enabled home
security, to smart meters, to connected
traffic signals – all of which are providing
greater levels of data and more flexible,
intuitive – and often autonomous –
functionality. With increased reliability
affordability and sophistication of the
underlying technologies, IoT has in recent
years gone from source of hype and
speculation into commercial deployments
across a plethora of industries. With
GRITIT Sensors, we are excited to be at the
vanguard of bringing the power of IoT to
facilities management – and once again
changing the game.
For further information call GRITIT on
0800 043 2911

Winter maintenance and the 4th
Industrial Revolution
Breakthroughs in sensor technologies
are set to change gritting in the way that
better data did before. Similarly, it is also
part of a wider technology trend that is
powered by the proliferation of Internet
connected devices and sensors that are
able to communicate with human
operators, with each other and with

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

23

Sustainable Environment

How to prepare for
severe wet weather

A

s experts predict severe
weather conditions and
flooding will hit the UK this
winter, it is naturally a
concerning time for home and
business owners, especially those based
in higher risk areas. Preparation is key to
minimising damage caused by flooding and
subsequent disruption to your home,
livelihood and business operations.
Therefore, if your property resides in an
area that is particularly vulnerable to harsh
weather and flooding it is advisable to have
a plan in place.

Preparing for wet weather
The impact of flooding on families,
schools and businesses, and the
communities in which they serve can be
devastating, so it is imperative that you
have a contingency plan for when severe
weather is forecast.
Often when wet weather and flooding
are forecast or flash flooding occurs, there
is limited time available to prepare to move
items, put barriers in place and plan what
you’ll do should you need to leave your
property. Start by making a list of important
actions for emergency situations so that
should the time come, you will feel more
in control and have the ability to focus on
what must be done quickly and efficiently.
Consider where your valuables and
sentimental items can be safely and
securely placed in order to avoid damage
or loss, and also where you can move
furniture to so that you don’t have to deal
with costly replacements in the short-term
if your home or business does get hit.
Safety is the number one priority when

24

preparing for potential flooding – it is
crucial that everyone living in the
household or working in your office knows
the plan if the building becomes unsafe or
potentially uninhabitable. The UK
government recommends that in the
event of a flood, you should also have a
pre-prepared kit of essential items that you
may need should you have to leave your
property, such as dry warm clothing, high
visibility clothing for those more vulnerable,
a torch, mobile phone with contact details
saved and money. To download the
governments’ full personal flood plan,
please click here.
Sandbags can be used to temporarily
halt flooding, but as a home or business
owner, it is your responsibility to have
these filled and to hand should a flooding
emergency occur. If you run a business and
have employees working on site, you have a
duty of care to ensure that they are working
in a safe environment, which means that
you are legally obliged to dispose of any
hazardous waste post flooding as this must
be done carefully and considerately by
professionals.

How are the authorities and
water companies working to
prevent flooding?
It’s no secret that in recent years, some
cities and towns in the UK have repeatedly
suffered from dire flooding situations.
With limited resources available, it is worth
noting for personal circumstances that the
authorities will offer resources firstly to
hard hit public areas, so protecting your
personal property is crucial.
Areas with rivers and large open spaces
of water are often particularly susceptible
to flooding, which includes a number of
counties throughout the South East where
we sadly see flooding disrupt daily life
during the colder months. As previously
reported, the Environment agency pledged
to implement a £17m flood defence
scheme to help protect the seaside town of
Newhaven in East Sussex, which was at high
risk of flooding due to its picturesque
location next to the sea and River Ouse. In
the past six months there have also been
a number of reports of flash flooding
causing major travel disruption to
commuters with landslips and flooded
tracks as well as a derailment on London
Midland’s train service.
A recent report by Water UK about

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

21st Century Drainage has been published
to encourage positive actions between
communities, local authorities and water
companies to tackle flooding. The report
aims to begin conversations around how
businesses can also collaborate to minimise
the risks of flooding. Sustainable drainage
systems that reduce the insertion of
harmful products into sewage systems and
ensure strong and safe plumbing are
additional areas of interest to the
programme that aims to create a safer and
lower risk environment for all.
Progress is already being made,
however Chair of the Water UK 21st
Century Drainage Programme Board,
Tony Harrington, also recognises continual
investment into protecting the
environment is key.
While work is ongoing to reduce flood
risks, in recent years, the Met office has
been able to take advantage of
developments in technology for weather
predicting purposes, meaning that they
will continuously be able to offer a more
accurate and timely weather forecast,
helping those who may be hit the hardest
plan for any issues.

What should I do if my home or
business has been affected by
flooding?
Firstly, don’t forget that safety should
be the number one priority. Inform your
insurance company at the first possible
opportunity, and ensure that you do not
touch any electrical items that may have
become damaged and are hazardous, as
they can cause electrocution.
Though the water may seem harmless,
it is also important to remember that it
contains bacteria and can therefore be
quite harmful to your health. This is why
it is important to seek professional advice
from experts when undertaking a clear up.
Don’t forget it isn’t just humans who can be
harmed by flood water – pets and livestock
can also be affected by water borne
diseases which may be present in water
that has become filled with sewage, leaving
it dangerous and contaminated. If you think
an animal may have consumed flood water,
contact a vet as soon as possible, and if you
are in a high risk flood area, ensure that
pets have the relevant vaccinations and
care to mitigate risk of illness.
www.countycleangroup.co.uk

Waste & Recycling

New green initiative at Sidcot School
thanks to innovative recycling scheme

F

or Sidcot, one of Somerset’s
leading independent day and
boarding schools, excellent
education is just the start. As
well as inspiring a culture of
support and growth, the school is also
committed to teaching students about the
importance of sustainability.
As part of an innovative programme of
environmental initiatives, the facilities team
enlisted the help of ReFood to introduce a
site-wide food waste recycling scheme. Less
than six months later, Sidcot recycles 100%
of its food waste – which is used to create
renewable energy, rather than being sent
to landfill.

Stepping up to the plate
Based in Winscombe, North Somerset,
Sidcot is committed to the highest possible
standards of education and learning. As
well as great teaching, friendly classes and
a commitment to personal development,
staff and students hold sustainability as one
of their key values, placing great emphasis
on a responsibility to protect the earth.
The school is committed to
environmentally-friendly measures and,
as such, has a committee dedicated to
identifying and introducing green initiatives
- SAGE (Sidcot Action for a Greener
Environment). From embracing energy
efficient technologies and investing in
strategies to reduce the use of energy and
reliance on fossil fuels, to encouraging rare
wildlife to nest across the site, SAGE
continues to make great strides towards
helping Sidcot go green.
However, one aspect of the school day
which has continued to pose a problem
for the SAGE team is the amount of food
wasted through school dinners. According
to statistics from the Waste and Resources
Action Programme (WRAP), schools across
the country generate 80,382 tonnes of food
waste – enough to fill 32 Olympic-sized
swimming pools – every year.
Sidcot was keen to tackle this issue,
so enlisted the help of ReFood, the
UK’s leading food waste recycler, to
implement a school-wide food waste
recycling programme.

directly into these recycling bins, rather
than disposed of in general waste.
Once full, the ReFood team collects the
food waste bins and replaces them with
clean, sanitised ones. The unwanted food
waste is taken directly to one of ReFood’s
state-of-the-art Anaerobic Digestion (AD)
plants, where it is converted into renewable
energy and sustainable biofertiliser. The
resulting energy is exported to the national
grid, while the sustainable biofertiliser is
used by local farmers to aid crop growth.
As well as being a highly
environmentally-friendly alternative to
sending food waste to landfill, the service
is also highly cost efficient, saving around
46% on waste disposal costs. Simple and
sustainable, the process has further added
to Sidcot’s eco credentials, while impacting
directly on the bottom line.
Six months after introducing the
initiative, Sidcot is now recycling 100% of
all food waste generated on site – a huge
step forward in sustainability. Stuart Brewin,
head of facilities at Sidcot School,
commented: “We’ve worked hard to make
our school one of the most sustainable in
the UK, through a number of innovative
initiatives.
“Working with ReFood to recycle our
food waste has been a hugely important
part of the process, delivering significant
end results. It’s important that we carry on
our commitment to food waste reduction,
so working with such a forward thinking
company really helps.”
Philip Simpson, commercial director at
ReFood, added: “Sidcot has a well-deserved

reputation for sustainability and by
recycling its food waste, Sidcot has been
able to minimise waste management costs,
while improving their green credentials.”

Going green for the future
Staff and pupils have been so inspired
by the recycling initiative that they’ve
introduced a number of commitments to
help the school become even more
eco-friendly. As well as taking part in
National Waste Week on an annual basis,
the teaching staff have introduced a
number of exciting activities – within the
curriculum – to raise awareness of how
much food waste is generated by the
school and what can be done to address it.
An inter-house ‘Less-Food Waste’
competition is also held each year, which
sees all senior students and staff
encouraged to try and reduce their food
waste at lunchtimes. Year 8 and 9 students
also participate in a World Changing Ideas
programme, presenting their eco-friendly
research and suggestions to other pupils
and staff.
Going forward, Sidcot will continue to
place significant emphasis on improving its
environmental credentials. Alongside
maintaining regular food waste recycling
collections, staff and students will
continued to identify and introduce green
initiatives through the SAGE committee.
For more information visit
www.refood.co.uk

An environmental alternative
The initiative is simple. Every week,
ReFood delivers a number of sanitised bins
to the school, via its private waste collection
fleet. As well as being used in the school
kitchens to separate waste at its source,
plate scrapings from the canteen are put

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

25

Waste & Recycling

Serving up a sustainable
future for hospitality
Industry heavyweights come together at
the plate2planet Live sustainability summit
to discuss pressing industry issues

T

he future of sustainability in
hospitality was on the table for
discussion yesterday, as
heavyweights from across the
sector came together to debate
some of the most pressing sustainability
issues facing the industry today.
Hosted by Steve Malkin, CEO of The
Planet MarkTM, and featuring notable
speakers and panellists (including Peter
Worsey, Food & Drink Sector Specialist
from WRAP, Dan Parker from the Jamie
Oliver Sugar Smart campaign and Julie
Barker, Director of Accommodation &
Hospitality at the University of Brighton),
the plate2planet Live summit marked the

first anniversary of plate2planet.co.uk, the
collaborative website for discussion and
ideas on sustainability in foodservice.
plate2planet is powered by Bidvest
Foodservice, one of thirteen members of
the site drawn from right across the
foodservice and hospitality industry
including: WRAP, the SRA, The Planet
MarkTM, Nestlé Professional, Unilever
and Premier Foods amongst others.

One in six hospitality meals
‘wasted’
Food waste was among the topics in
the spotlight, with Peter Worsey, Food &
Drink Sector Specialist at WRAP,
highlighting the cost of food waste to the
industry: “There’s no doubt that food waste
is one of the most pressing sustainably
issues in our industry today. The cost of
food waste to the UK hospitality industry is
2.5 billion - this is equivalent to 1.3 billion
meals or one in six meals served.
“In my opinion, the future is about
collaboration and cooperation. Through
industry initiatives such as the Courtauld
2025 Commitment, which spans the whole
food and drink sector, we’re making small

steps towards progress, but more can be
done, and working together we have an
opportunity to effect real change.”
Not stopping there, the summit tackled
the controversial issue of sugar reduction
and childhood obesity, with the panel of
experts highlighting sugar labelling as an
opportunity for the foodservice sector to
embrace. Andy Jones, former Chair of the
Hospital Caterers Association and Chair
of the PS100, said: “It’s all about working
together. Let’s not forget that some sugars
are natural, we need to go on a journey to
wean people off the bad sugar – education
and simple, clear messages are the way
forwards.
“There is an opportunity for the sector
to own sugar labelling using easy to
understand icons, such as heaped
teaspoons, to demonstrate sugar levels on
both customer facing packs and products
which go into kitchens, educating chefs and
consumers alike.”

Collaborating for change
Collaboration was a message reinforced
at the summit by Shirley Duncalf, Head of
Sustainability at Bidvest Foodservice:
“Collaboration is absolutely
fundamental to what we do today and for
the future. It’s about the industry working
together to achieve a sustainable future for
hospitality. We, together, have a vital role
to play in leading the sustainable agenda
across the whole industry. From food
waste, which costs the sector £720 million
per year, to lowering sugar levels and
ensuring a sustainable supply chain,
collaboration and communication is
what we need to do today for the future
generation.
“Through plate2planet, we wanted
to provide a platform for sustainability
across the industry – a place to spearhead
dialogue and make positive changes within
foodservice. The expansion and popularity
of the website over the past year is
phenomenal and the plate2planet Live
summit is testament to its success. Things
are changing, and as an industry we have
an opportunity to make a big difference.”
Read through the issues raised at the
summit on Twitter using #p2pLive2016.
The panel debates from the Summit can
also be re-watched on the Bidvest
Foodservice Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/BidvestFoodUK/
www.plate2planet.co.uk

26

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

Waste & Recycling

Sales of cup recycling
solutions have never
been stronger

L

eafield Environmental, has
reported record sales of its cup
recycling bins as a direct result
of the renewed commitment of
businesses to tackle the much
publicised issue of disposable cup waste. As
many as 5 billion paper cups are used and
disposed of each year in the UK which, due
to the previous lack of recycling solutions,
were either incinerated or sent to landfill.
Leafield has been working with Simply
Cups, the UK’s only cup recycling scheme,
which has resulted in an expansion of its
cup bin range and increase in sales.
According to Justin Salmon, Business
Development Manager for Leafield
Environmental; “We knew our customers
genuinely wanted to recycle their cups
because it improves their recycling targets,

avoids waste going to landfill and enhances
their environmental credentials. Now that
there is a robust scheme in operation,
through Simply Cups, there is a huge
incentive for businesses to recycle their
cups, which gives us the opportunity to help
them find the best bin for their needs.”

Giant coffee cup bins offer a paper cup recycling
solution for the first time in Manchester

M

anchester is set to be
flocked with giant coffee
cup bins as environment
charity Hubbub teams up
with coffee cup retailers
and designers to reduce paper cup waste
and save 20,000 cups from going to landfill
by recycling them into useful new products.
The campaign #1MoreShot kicks off the
social experiment, calling on the people of
Manchester to recycle their coffee cups. It’s
the first high street recycling scheme of its
kind in the UK, starting on 12th October.
Over three months, eleven bins in the
shape of giant coffee cups are to be been
placed up and down one of Manchester’s
busiest streets, Oxford Road. The bins are
intended to collect paper cups only, which
will then be recycled.
Every year 2.5 billion ‘paper’ coffee cups
are being thrown away in the UK, and it’s
estimated that less than 1% are actually
recycled. This new initiative will test a new
way of reducing paper cup waste. The
20,000 cups collected will create 15,000
plastic flower pot holders that will be used
in community gardens around the city.
Hubbub have partnered with Groundwork
and Manchester City Council, along with
coffee retailers to redistribute the recycled

products to benefit the local community
and the environment.
Gavin Ellis, Co-Founder of Hubbub
“This new initiative will test an innovative
new technology and discover whether the
public will separate out their coffee cups
if specialist bins are provided. We urgently
need to change the way we dispose of the
2.5 billion paper cups that are thrown away
every year, as currently only 1 in 400 cups
are being recycled. If this is successful, it
can be extended to other cities across the
UK as a number of local authorities have
already put their name forward.”
The journey of the coffee cup:
•
Customer buys a coffee from shop
and drinks it
•
Customer places it in a coffee cup
recycling bin
•
Coffee cups are collected, cleaned
and shredded
•
Shredded cups are mixed with
recycled plastic, up to 40% paper
cups can be used
This material is turned into pellets,
which can then be used to make a variety of
plastic products, from garden furniture to
reusable cups.
On average 272,602 disposable paper
cups are used every day in Manchester.

Recent research shows that 81% of people
in the north west say that seeing litter on
the streets in their local area makes them
feel angry and frustrated.
Every year, it costs Manchester City
Council £7.5 million to deal with litter,
fly-tipping and street cleaning, which
equates to £14 per person.
TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingshall
recently stated during “Hugh’s War on
Waste” BBC
programme that
the plastic lining
is the reason why
the cups cannot be
recycled. However,
this time the lining
helps the recycling
process with a
pioneering new
technology. The
collected cups will
be blended with
recycled plastic and
turned into new
products.

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

27

Sustainable Office

The Multipurpose building
Block That Allows You To
Build Nearly Anything
This means less material is used,
energy is saved because new material
doesn’t need to be extracted and formed,
and material doesn’t need to be recycled
(and doesn’t end up in a landfill).
The Polypropylene material in
EverBlock is fully recyclable, though we
hope you never have to recycle

Universal Modular Design
•
•
•

M

odularBuildingBlocks.co.uk
is the UK distributor of a
multipurpose modular
building system of oversized
plastic blocks that facilitates the
construction of all types of objects. It’s
quick and easy to build nearly anything, by
stacking and organizing the universal blocks
in nearly any shape, pattern, or size. Don’t
mention the L word – Actually, do because
Joe Plosky of ModularBuldingBlocks.co.uk
isn’t afraid to see the abilities of this
Lego-like stackable blocks to create and
build as a positive.
Anything you’ve constructed can be
taken apart and re-assembled again, and
the pieces can be re-used to build other
objects, making this system a unique green
building method.

•
Sales and hire of EverBlocks are
offered as well as help with Design and
Installation services. “ We can consult with
you on large scale or complex projects
and provide customized solutions to meet
your needs.”
The blocks can be configured into any
size and shape object and alternate colours
as desired to create incredible objects
indoor and out.
“Companies are building dividing walls,
office pods, enclosures and displays using
these blocks for a wide variety of uses due
to their modular nature and multipurpose
use” reports managing director Joe Plosky.
“People absolutely love the idea of the
blocks, and we are now gaining traction
with initial ideas evolving and turning into
orders across the range of business uses
– even home use!”

Green Building with Everblock
It’s as much about repurposing as it is
about recycling.

There is no other system that allows
one product to be used for so many
different applications. Unlike other
furniture or building materials, where
people simply throw things out when they
are finished with them, EverBlock blocks
can continue to be repurposed again and
again for various needs, reconfigured as
needs change, and shipped compactly to
additional locations.

28

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

It is designed to be modular, enabling
you to create nearly any sized object.
Expand your creations as needed and
modify your designs on the fly.
Be as creative as you want to be an
alternate colours and modules to
build amazing modular objects
and buildings.
The jumbo block size and modularity
allows you to build around fixed
obstacles and construct objects that
work within your environment

EASY Attachment System
•

•

•
•

The life-size modules nest easily with
the parts above and below, creating a
stable and durable connection.
Stagger parts as needed for additional
strength and to create unique visual
patterns.
No tools are required to install or
disassemble sections.
Life-sized block sections are
re-useable and may be transported
easily to another location as needed

A Complete Building System
– 4 parts and that’s it!
The EverBlock® System consists of
four universal parts - a full sized 12” block,
a 6” half-sized block, a 3” one-quarter
sized block, and a 12” finishing cap that
all interlock. Reinforcement pins, shelving
units, a desktop unit, doorway lintels, and
a stabilizing foot all compliment the system
and add versatility. There are 16 standard
colours are available.
0203 795 9090
info@modularbuildingblocks.co.uk
www.modularbuildingblocks.co.uk

Sustainable office

Over 70% of workers value a
sustainable office environment

A

OnePulse survey by leading
office design, fit out and
refurbishment specialist
Morgan Lovell has found that
73% of UK office workers
believe that a sustainable workplace aids
productivity, with 72% saying that it was
important to them to work in a sustainable
environment.
Camilla Read, environmental and
sustainability manager at Morgan Lovell,
comments: “A sustainable workplace
doesn’t only impact the environment, but
also the people in it, and it’s clear that
employees are increasingly recognising this
– now it’s time for employers to take action.
The fact that nearly three-quarters of our
respondents said that working in a
sustainable environment was important to
them proves that this must be a key
consideration when embarking on any
office project.”
When defining sustainability, 40% of
the survey’s respondents said that their first
thought was ‘energy efficiency’, followed
by ‘recycling’ (25%), ‘low carbon emissions’
(10%) and ‘natural light’ (9%).
Peter Weston, managing director of
Morgan Lovell in London says that in many
cases it’s getting the basics right that can
make the most difference. He comments:
“It’s no surprise that energy efficiency and
recycling ranked highly in the survey.
These ‘easy wins’ are some of the very first
things we look at when designing and
building an office and, working with our
supply chain, we can help clients ensure
that their new offices meet sustainability
and environmental thresholds that
benefit everyone.
“Industry research has reaffirmed the
advantages of optimising our physical
environment. Improving indoor air quality
by using low VOC materials and increasing
ventilation, for example, can result in
eight to 11% gains in productivity. So, when
we now talk about sustainability, we see
health, wellbeing and productivity as new
metrics – a radical development in
commercial property.”
A recent Morgan Lovell fit out provides
a good case study. The company completed
an exemplar sustainable office
refurbishment for the UK Green Building
Council (UK-GBC). The project incorporated
wellbeing measures to improve staff
satisfaction, productivity, and overall health
and wellness.
These wellbeing measures included:
•
A beautiful living wall with over
1,500 plants

•

An innovative ventilation system which
has delivered a 750% increase in
background air provision
•
An automated low-energy LED
lighting system
•
Products and finishes that minimise
(and sometimes actively remove)
pollutants from the air.
Morgan Lovell built an office that is fit
for a diverse range of working styles. These
included an open plan working area to
enable hot-desking; a sound-proof
‘telephone booth’ for private phone calls,
a height-adjustable standing meeting table
and break-out spaces for informal meetings
and social interaction.
Camilla adds: “UK-GBC’s approach to
its sustainable office fit out focuses on
enhancing the physical characteristics of
the workspace. They’ve illustrated that size
needn’t be a constraint and together we’ve
delivered a very high performing space.
Improving daylight, acoustics and thermal
comfort, providing active and flexible
spaces, and introducing plants are just
some of the measures that were taken
which have a direct impact on employees.
But all the ‘unseen’ parts of the office
refurbishment – paint, carpets, lights,
adhesives – also have a huge impact. Each
bit was carefully considered in the six
weeks we took to build the new office.”
Peter concludes: “We pride ourselves
on being a leader in sustainable fit out and,
having completed a project for UK-GBC in
the past, we know how important
responsible construction is to the team.
Without our brilliant supply chain and the
full engagement of the entire project team,

About UK-GBC’s new office
UK Green Building Council’s (UK-GBC)
160m² central London office has achieved
the lowest embodied carbon footprint
ever recorded for an office
refurbishment in the UK. Other key
achievements include:
•

we wouldn’t have been able to achieve such
high indoor air quality with low VOCs or the
impressive recycling and reuse rates. We
had stringent targets to meet onsite and
we worked tirelessly to ensure we built a
workspace to be proud of.”
This project shows what can be
achieved in a small space with limited time.
It is possible to build truly sustainable office
spaces that enable businesses to reap the
benefits of increased employee wellbeing,
health and productivity.
www.morganlovell.com

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

29

Sustainable Office

Buyers Guide for
Sustainable Office
Furniture

F

or those moving office or
replacing worn furniture,
sustainable office furniture
options are available which
reduce environmental impacts,
improve staff wellness and productivity
AND save 50% or more of the cost of
new furniture.

What is so Unsustainable about
Office Furniture?
New furniture is manufactured from
raw materials extracted, refined, shaped,
finished and transported all around the
world. Each step uses water, creates
greenhouse gas emissions and impacts
directly on the natural environment
through mining and waste.
Following use, many furniture
manufacturers claim that their furniture
can be recycled. But mostly this is left to
the customer to arrange. This is
understandably a low priority for a
company replacing the odd item
intermittently, or dealing with the myriad of
challenges of moving office.

30

This explains the 300 tonnes of office
furniture that goes to landfill every
working day in the UK, according to WRAP’s
2012 estimates.
Staff wellness can be impacted by poor
furniture choices, with unergonomic
furniture often leading to pain and
recurring injuries and their consequent
costs for the business. Chemicals used in
new furniture manufacture can include
formaldehydes and other volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) which can cause a
range of adverse health impacts.
The UK imports £2B worth of
commercial furniture each year according
to the Office for National Statistics. This
hurts the UK’s balance of payments,
reduces resource security and misses
out on local jobs.
Economically, new furniture is very
expensive, with leading desk chairs
costing well over £1,000 + VAT each,
which is difficult for most companies to
justify nowadays.
So new furniture comes with a range of
environmental, social and economic costs.

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

More Sustainable Options
The emergence of the circular economy
has created more sustainable furniture
options for buyers at all levels of the Waste
Hierarchy, a framework adapted below for
office furniture.
Used/Second hand furniture can
be found in most cities. While it has a low
environmental footprint because nothing
is done to the furniture, buyers should be
aware of wear and damage – as well as
quite high prices and low volumes through
some popular marketplaces such as eBay.
Environmentally, the footprint of used
furniture is limited to the transportation
of the items, which is usually only a
couple of percent of the environmental
impact created when it is first made from
virgin materials.
Reuse has historically occurred with
top quality furniture created by revered
designers; it is now becoming popular
for well-designed items from less famous
manufacturers and designers.
Refreshing/Repairing/Refurbishing
furniture involves giving it a facelift, such as

reupholstering to replace worn or
out-of-date fabric, or fixing broken parts.
This is the second most sustainable
option in the hierarchy, and can be done
using materials, including fabrics, which
are recycled.
Reupholstering provides buyers with
the opportunity to match furniture (both
existing and from multiple sources) –
enabling larger batches sufficient to furnish
a modest office. Expect to pay 40% to 50%
of new list price for a refreshed item.
Environmentally, the footprint of a
refreshed item can be 90% lower than a
new items form virgin materials.
Remaking/Remanufacturing takes
the long life components (like steel and
aluminium bases on desks and chairs) from
good quality used items, checks and
resurfaces them and replaces the softer
parts around them. The result, depending

on the level of quality required, can be
indistinguishable from new and carry the
same warranty.
The remanufacturing process enables
buyers to tailor the aesthetics and finish
to meet their needs – including corporate
colours or matching with existing furniture.
Furniture remanufacturing companies
have access to large volumes of used
furniture for remanufacturing, so can
supply larger offices.
The environmental savings of
remanufacturing have been calculated
at over 80% of a piece made from virgin
materials and prices are 50% to 60% of the
list price of new.
Many buyers are not aware of
remanufacturing and the quality that it
achieves, despite most brand name office
photocopiers (like Xerox, Kyocera and
Ricoh) being remanufactured – the one in
your office may be in its 8th life.
RBS, University College London and the
NHS, amongst others, have embraced
remanufacturing to achieve quality, style
AND value for money in office furniture.
Quality is key with remanufacturing and
you should ask to see samples and agree
on the minimum level of quality to
be achieved; the best remanufacturers
have clearly understood grades of quality
for this purpose.
Recycle. Of course, even if you choose
to buy new, you can ensure that your
existing furniture finds a good home
(through reuse, refreshing or
remanufacturing) by offering it to a
remanufacturer, who will often take it
away at no cost, saving you the transport
and recycling costs.

to change their posture (e.g. stand up)
and ease muscles
•
Variety, including team-specific desk
orientations (because no-one wants
to feel like a battery chicken sitting in
a long row)
Other emerging techniques for
improving wellbeing and happiness in
offices include the establishment of virtual
walls for privacy, and acoustic management
techniques to minimise noise disturbance
in open plan offices.

Maximising Wellness

A Big Payoff

Healthy offices share a number of
features, including:
•
Fully adjustable desk chairs, including
height, lumbar support, tilt, armrest
and seat adjustability
•
Use of natural elements, like wood
finishes, to appeal to human
preferences for nature
(called biophilia)
•
Avoided volatile organic compounds
through choice of materials/supplier
or reuse/remanufacturing (because
volatile organic compounds reduce
over time)
•
Designed for disabilites, including
following the guidelines provided
by the Royal National Institute for
the Blind
•
Maximising daylight and views
(proven to increase human
productivity and health. See, for
example, Singh et al, 2010)
•
Varied working locations to allow staff

Creating a Wonderful Office on
a Tight Budget
Of course we all want to work in a
beautiful, sustainable, productive, healthy
office that is affordable. Our experience
has shown that good design is the key to
achieving this.
We have all seen very expensive offices
that look terrible and budget offices that
are fantastic workplaces – the difference is
good design.
Traditionally, architects and interior
designers charged large amounts for their
services, but this is changing. Turnkey
companies, including some furniture
remanufacturers, are offering design
services at no cost. They are reinventing
how design occurs by working
collaboratively with the client team and
project manager to co-design an office
so that it exactly meets company needs
and budget.
Of course, furniture buyers should
check the credentials and past projects of
those offering free design, as would occur
with paid designers.

6 great ways to boost staff
productivity in your business
3. Stand-up desks
More businesses are introducing
stand-up desks into their offices to relieve
some of the strain on those who don’t like
to be sat down all day. Installing stand-up
desks can ensure your staff remain
productive and free from back and neck
injuries. Another win-win situation.

4. Personal training sessions

A

ccording to research by Love
Energy Savings,43% of UK
workers don’t feel that their
current employer does enough
to keep them engaged.
To have any chance of long term
business success it is important to have a
team of happy and committed employees,
so what perks can businesses introduce to
boost staff productivity?

1. Games of “Team Breakout”
The idea is to encourage teamwork
and plenty of bonding, but more often than
not they turn out to be a tad lame and
awkward. However, you might find value
in taking your teams to one of the growing
number of “escape rooms” that are
cropping up across the UK. In a nutshell,

teams of five or six are given one hour to
solve an array of riddles and puzzles in
order to break out of a locked room. These
can be genuinely taxing but fun at the same
time, and teamwork is essential.

2. Health-boosting apples
Research undertaken by Fruitful Office
showed that providing employees with
fresh fruit can result in a 10% increase in
productivity. However, you don’t have to
be an expert nutritionist to know that
healthy staff who have a balanced diet
are less likely to call in sick and will
generally have higher energy levels than
those who gorge on junk. It’s easy to see
why so many businesses offer free fruit as
an employee perk.

According to the Centre for Economic
and Business Research, long-term sickness
absence costs UK businesses £4.17 billion a
year. Around a quarter of this figure can be
attributed to absences caused by mental
illnesses. Regular exercise can help to
prevent this. While free or discounted gym
memberships are always a strong option,
sometimes you need to give your
employees a bit of guidance. As they say,
you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t
make it drink. Hiring a personal trainer to
devise routines for your staff could be a
more effective employee perk.

5. Complimentary acupuncture
sessions
Onsite acupuncture sessions are one
of the quirkier employee benefits you’ll find,
but if they’re good enough for Twitter, then
who’s to say your staff won’t lap them up?
Evidence suggests that this unorthodox
form of treatment can help to ease neck
and lower back pain, headaches and even
toothache. Remember, healthy employees
are productive employees.

6. Domino’s pizzas
Because who doesn’t like pizza, right?
Making use of Domino’s renowned ‘Two for
Tuesday’ deal, you can treat your staff to
many a free lunch over the course of the
year. It’s only a really small perk, but if your
staff are generally happy in other areas of
their role, little things like this can provide
the cherry atop your glorious employee
engagement cake.
info@loveenergysavings.com

32

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

Sustainable OFFsite

Six benefits of offsite
construction

M

oving the building process
away from the physical
site and into a controlled
factory environment has
multiple advantages.
Here we take a look at some of the
reasons why.

Efficiency and predictability
By building offsite, the process is
the same every time, meaning that each
time the process is performed, the time
will decrease. Work can be guaranteed to
be delivered on time and to the highest
quality, as the mitigating circumstances
such as bad weather do not delay
the project.

Safety
The factory is a far more predictable
setting than the physical construction site,
which eliminates the variables of weather
and visibility. Having the conditions be the
same every time makes errors much less
likely. Most of onsite constructionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most
dangerous hazards: like fall from height and
equipment accidents, are not an issue in
the factory.

Sustainability

the production line. Less training means
faster delivery, and more money saved for
all parties.

No disruption to clients
An onsite build can severely test the
patience of those unfortunate enough to
be within the vicinity. Apart from the noise
and air pollution of heavy machinery and
equipment, construction and delivery
vehicles travelling to and from the site
can cause traffic delays and block
parking spaces and access routes. This is
a particular problem in constrained urban
areas. Furthermore, construction works
rarely look pretty and can be an eyesore
for a long time. Moving construction away
from the site and into a factory will be a
great relief to local residents.

2012. Since then, we have been
continuously refining our designs and
construction techniques and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exciting to
be able to report that it is working.
Our Schoolhaus buildings cost no more
than traditionally built alternatives but
Schoolhaus cost nothing to heat and light
and emit no CO2. By the end of 2016, we
will have delivered 50 Schoolhaus projects
all with an EPC rating of A+.

Schoolhaus
Building off-site delivers meaningful
cost savings when compared to other
methods of construction. The savings can
then be spent on the integration of
renewable energy technology with
sufficient capacity to ensure net zero
energy and net zero carbon performance.
We have been employing this
approach at UK Energy Partners since

Offsite construction requires less
heavy machinery and less energy.
Transporting the finished building to the
site also uses minimal vehicles, and
wastage is minimised, as material
requirements can be more accurately
calculated, allowing the builder to make
savings by buying in bulk.

Less labour
A smaller workforce is required to
construct a building in a factory setting.
Less workers means less wage costs;
keeping building prices more affordable.

Less training
While training to be an expert in onsite
construction is a lengthy process, teaching
staff to perform their role in an offsite build
is much simpler and faster. Transferring
the construction process to a factory
setting essentially turns building into a
manufacturing process, and each member
of staff need only learn their own role in

PSS Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ November/December 2016

33

Sustainable Procurement

The attitude shift – how heathy
eating and sustainability is changing
public sector procurement
Supply chain - provide the right
assurance

Mike Haslin, COO at The University
Caterer’s Organisation (TUCO)

“

‘Think globally, act locally’ as the
saying goes. Over the past few years,
there has been a rise in the
popularity of locally-grown and
produced food as consumers
become increasingly aware of just what
goes into their meals. This comes alongside
a growing awareness of the importance of
a sustainable, healthy diet as well as
concerns around ethical food production
and animal welfare.
“High-profile campaigns around
the food provided in educational
establishments have caused heated
debates everywhere from the kitchen table
to the Houses of Parliament. Coupled with
the Government’s ‘Supermeals’ and
‘Five-a-Day’ programmes, as well as
published NHS resources, there is more
information available than ever before.
Changing attitudes have even encouraged
prominent organisations to change their
ways; the World Health Organisation
recently announced that it has removed all
sugary drinks from its headquarters and
the University of Brighton has become
the first UK University to adopt the
sugar-smart initiative.
“The generation now approaching
university is more likely to care about these
issues than those who have gone before
them. This group has grown up with healthy
eating campaigns and messages around
the importance of a sustainable food

34

chain – now many of them are moving away
from home for the first time it’s important
that the food choices available across the
public sector reflect these attitudes.
“Take university catering for example,
over the past few years the innovation
within this market has been vast, leaving
the outdated perceptions of bulk canteen
meals a thing of the past. The variety and
quality of the food outlets across
universities is now rivalling that of the high
street, in line with changing student
expectations. The demand for more
sustainable and healthy diets along with the
rise in cost of attending university, means
that students also want value for money.
In a sector already operating on wafer-thin
margins, this complicates matters and it
has become a juggling act of providing
high-quality food with top-grade service
levels and constrained budgets.
“So how do public sector catering
professionals cope with the change in
attitudes and requirements to provide
healthier, more sustainable meal choices
and keep within tight budgets? This is
where specialist procurement frameworks
come in. From assessing the supply chain
and working with local producers and
suppliers to simply talking to customers,
ensuring that procurement procedures
provide the best value for money can all
have a significant impact.

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

“To meet the demand from today’s
consumers for transparency and
traceability across the food chain, it’s
important to make it as easy as possible for
them to identify dishes and products that
support causes that they care about.
Flagging ingredients accredited by a food
assurance scheme sends out a clear
message about a catering outlet’s
sourcing practices and brand ethos.
Ingredients accredited by organisations
including Red Tractor, the Soil Association
or Fairtrade all carry assurances about
content and/or sustainability and are a
good place to start. Keeping on top of
this and clearly marking menus sends
out the message that sustainability is
taken seriously.
Go local and support small producers
“Many public sector caterers may think
that sourcing locally-produced food is too
difficult a task when catering to hundreds
and sometimes thousands of people.
However, offering a few carefully-selected
local dishes or ingredients can make a huge
difference when marketing to consumers
and demonstrating sustainability
credentials. A good procurement
framework should offer options to source
goods from SMEs and local suppliers too,
taking away the administration headache.
“Sourcing locally also allows for
seasonal ingredient variations, cutting down
on the amount of food that is imported.
Take TUCO’s frameworks for example,
where 75 per cent of our suppliers are
SMEs (many on a regional basis), and we
have built-in flexibility to allow our
members to work with local producers,
whether that is for a short-term agreement
or on a more permanent scale. And now,
through our frameworks, universities are
able to purchase Fairtrade milk in the first
procurement agreement of its kind.

Get the best value from a
procurement framework
“Maintaining individual agreements with
suppliers and negotiating the best price
is a time-consuming and often impossible
task for public-sector bodies to do on their

Sustainable Procurement
in the everyday bustle of a catering outlet.
Ask them what they would like to see on
the menu, if they’d like more information
on the choices available and as importantly,
what they don’t want. This on-the-ground
research should provide an easy starting
point for menu planning and determining
appetite for trying things such as locally
sourced specialities.

View for the future

own. This is why many organisations in
the sector across the UK make use of a
procurement framework and are able to
take advantage of the deals negotiated by a
larger organisation. As with any agreement,
catering professionals should assess what
arrangement suits their needs and ensure
that they are getting the best deal for them.
So what should you look for when choosing
or reviewing a procurement framework?
“It should not and cannot be a one size
fits all approach. As a guide, below are
other elements that should stand out when
considering this approach.
•
Choose a procurement partner that
has deep understanding and
experience of the public sector.
•
Explore the aggregate spending power
and prices that frameworks offer and
don’t forget the cost of engagement
with a partner.
•
Member feedback and collaboration
should be invited – it is the members
that benefit from the framework so it
is important that their individual needs
are taken into account.
•
Built-in flexibility is a must, if a
framework is going to take the
complexities out of procurement;
it needs to work across the board,
not just for a set number of items or
certain type of product.
•
Products should be independently
benchmarked to ensure that there
is a real saving and not just a
perceived one.
•
Quality assurance of all suppliers is
key. The framework should be
responsible for ensuring that this is
the case, it should also be flagged
where suppliers are accredited by
official bodies.
•
Customer service has to be first-class,
support to guarantee that the best
deal is being achieved through regular

contract review is invaluable.
“If done well, this type of agreement
can save public sector organisations time,
money, and administration headaches,
while also positively impacting the bottom
line. However, decision-makers need to
take the time to understand the business
benefits and the best option for them.
“At TUCO we help our members and
other organisations in the public sector to
secure the best deals. Because TUCO is a
not-for-profit organisation solely owned
by its public sector members, we offer
transparency and free access to framework
agreements. As such, users can be sure
that their procurement framework will work
for them and their company before
deciding whether to go ahead on a
longer-term basis.

Walk the walk and talk the talk
“One of the simplest ways to work out if
customers are happy is by talking to them
– it sounds simple but is often overlooked

“Consumer trends are constantly
evolving but the move towards a healthier,
more sustainable diet is certainly one that
is here to stay. It isn’t a fad, but a concerted
effort that is backed by government bodies
and large-scale campaigns. As the next
generation moves into higher education
and then the workforce, there is likely to be
a permanent shift in mentality that means
public sector catering professionals need to
provide transparency in terms of
their supply chain as well as
demonstrating sustainability credentials.
Consumers have more choice than ever
before and it’s essential that public sector
catering outlets keep them on site and
avoid losing custom to high street chains
and eating establishments.
“Catering professionals can’t ignore the
expectations of the younger generation,
who will simply go elsewhere if they don’t
see what they want on site. This shift in
attitudes is indicative of what future
consumers will want but by thinking
creatively, assessing supply chains critically
and getting help through procurement
frameworks, it need not be a difficult task.”
For more information on TUCO and its
specialist public sector procurement
frameworks, please visit www.tuco.ac.uk

PSS Magazine • November/December 2016

35

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